Square Peg ● Round Hole

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I have been on pins and needles waiting for my manuscript editing to be complete. Anxious to hear what she has to say about it. It isn’t like I need validation. Okay, that’s a lie. Obviously, not everyone will like it, but a little affirmation is always welcome. What I wasn’t prepared for was the email that I received yesterday from her.

When I saw her name in my inbox, my heart started to pound. I might have said, “Oh, shit” and immediately went to the dark side where she would inform me that the book is crap and to find another avenue to express myself. Don’t judge. This is my insane process. Anyway, as I clicked on the spawn of Satan aka the email, all the anxiety melted away and I was captivated by her message.`

Let me just give you a little background on this individual who is editing my book. She not only owns this business, but she is an associate editor for a small publishing house. She knows the industry, which is one of the reasons I chose her. As I read her message, my brain was having a hard time comprehending, and I had to read it multiple times to make sure I was understanding it correctly. She said, “I very much like your casual and relatable writing style. It works particularly well for women’s fiction, but even outside the genre it’s very good. I’d like to offer something a little bit unique. Something, I generally don’t offer. I’d like to send back your manuscript with changes and comments of the first 50 pages that I have completed. Then you can continue making those changes throughout the book and resend it back to me. I will edit it again at no extra cost. I think your manuscript is very good and I want to see your best work go out to those agents.” Holy. Shit.

So, I immediately sent back a response telling her how grateful I am for her help and I am absolutely on board for embracing her suggestions. I went to bed feeling euphoric. Now, this morning, after I got another email from her with the edits and list of changes, I might have needed an oxygen mask. Her email even had “WARNING: Don’t get overwhelmed” which no one should ever put because, of course, I did. I actually closed her email in an effort to calm my rapid breathing. Cue the big exhale.

With that being said, I feel such a pull from the universe that affirms I am moving in the right direction. There is a lot of work ahead of me, but the extra push will be worth it in the end. So, I am seizing the moment. Diving into the rewrites and not allowing myself to drown in self-deprecating talk. Success lies in truly embracing the process. If I have learned anything in the last year, it is that I have the ability to finish what I have started. It only took fifty-two years , but I have always marched to my own beat. Why stop now?