Have you ever noticed how a theme will suddenly develop around you? Serendipitous events occur, snatches of speech overheard begin to form a pattern, and you think, I need to pay attention to this.

During a recent discussion in one of my writer's groups, the topic of book signings, marketing, shyness and belief came up. Some authors expressed that they find signings or sales to be difficult, 'embarrassing', nerve wracking experiences. They don't like them or don't want to do them. Others felt it was a necessary part of a writer's life.

This was my reply:

Article posted by Nina Davies with the permission of Cheryl Kaye Tardif.

I recently held a workshop on finding the time to write. I shared my experience, duly providing tips and solutions to conquer apathy and other bad habits. One tip in particular concerns the destructive force called negative energy.

The new year rolled in with fireworks and champagne popping. Resolutions, goals, selling of souls were thrown out to the universe with quiet desperation. Despite the high percentage of drop outs from this bunch by the first quarter of the year, we undergo the experience without fail at the beginning of each year.

On my many trips to Atlanta with the family, I drive through the night. The main reason is to avoid hearing the repeated whines of 'Are we there yet?' Instead, everyone awakens when I'm about an hour away from my brother's house, for which I only have to hear it once. This tactic guarantees that everyone arrives with their heads still attached to their bodies. Before I begin the road trip, I know it's going to be a long journey. I also know that it doesn't help to look up at each sign post and wonder if the trip is coming to an end. You have to know and believe that there is an end and at some point in time, you will arrive.

By now you know where I'm going with this.

Something sent me to my old file drawer today; I was looking for an address of an agent for a friend, and I knew I’d queried that agent in the past. In my files, I pulled out a dog-eared, overstuffed, tear-stained file folder.

I remember creating that file, when I sent out my initial three agent queries for my first manuscript. I’m a fairly organized person, but for some reason I didn’t take the time to type out a label. This file folder bears one Sharpie-squiggled word on the tab: QUERIES.

And in it, I shoved a heck of a lot of heartbreak. But that’s not all that’s in that folder. There’s something else between those tattered edges. Something magical, something elusive, something that begs to be shared.

Go Forward... It's not as easy as it sounds. For some it means putting down a manuscript we've revised (until even we're sick of our characters) and beginning something new. For others it means stepping out of the familiar (for example changing from the historical to the contemporary genre or visa versa). For all of us there is nothing simple about moving ahead because it means facing both our fears and the unknown. Facing reaction (reader, reviewer or critique), rejection or failure.

I attended a writer's retreat last June. The name of the retreat was "Writing and Dharma," and it was billed as a combination writing and meditation retreat. Sounded right up my alley, so I jumped a plane to Portland, Oregon, and caught a rideshare to Cloud Mountain meditation center in the southern part of Washington. Nestled in a forest of the tallest trees I've seen, it had tranquil written all over it. Just the ticket for a case of high stress and writer's block.

I did something amazing today. I mailed a contest entry.

"Ho hum, so what," you might say.

Well, putting a stamp on that envelope and popping it into the mailbox isn't dull routine. It isn't ordinary at all. I've just submitted my manuscript to a contest where several writers are going to give me their objective, honest opinion. Sound easy?

Not!

I was recently asked during one of the classes on my online writing class group what to do when the doubt devils that plague most writers are validated. Like when you're doubting your ability to ever write a publishable book and get three rejections from different publishers in one day. I'm very familiar with that scenario because it's one I experienced.