Writers live by hope.
We hope that the next story will break out.
We hope that the next submission will sell.
We hope that the next revision will be amazing.
We hope that the next royalty check will be double.
We hope readers will love our stories.
Hope. It’s how we live. And I love it when Hope comes to live in tangible ways.
I went Friday to an awards banquet to honor my friend, Carla McClafferty. She was inducted into the Arkansas Writer’s Hall of Fame for her work in children’s non-fiction.
That was hope come to life.
Another Arkansas friend, Cara Brookins had this news reported in today’s Publisher’s Weekly:
Brookins’s ‘Rise’ Goes to SMP
In a six-figure North American rights deal, Rose Hilliard at St. Martin’s Press acquired Cara Brookins’s memoir, Rise. The book, which Dystel and Goderich’s Jessica Papin sold at auction, is about Brookins’s experience as a single mother coming out of an abusive relationship, building her own house from the ground up. SMP said the author, a social media marketing expert in Little Rock, Ark., took on the massive DIY project “with only the help of her four children.” Rise is currently set for fall 2016.
That was hope come to life.
Another Arkansas friend, Monica Clark-Robinson recently sold her first picture book. Here’s the listing on her agent’s site:
Children’s: Picture book: Monica Clark-Robinson’s LET THE CHILDREN MARCH, an historical picture book told from a child’s point of view about the Children’s Crusade, a series of civil rights marches that took place in 1963 to protest the Jim Crow Laws, to Christine Krones at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s, for publication in Fall 2017.
That was hope come to life.
Each time a friend realizes a small portion of a dream—from the beginning of a career to a career at the top of its game—we need to stop and rejoice with them.
Why? For many reasons—friendship shares good news.
But for today’s purpose, rejoicing over someone’s good news builds my reserve of hope. I know the hope isn’t futile; someone else’s hopes came to fruition and that leaves me with a renewed hope that mine may also.
I often end a speech or a retreat with the words, “Send me your good news.” It’s not hollow words, and it’s not bragging on your part. It’s sharing a joyful event. And really, I’m being selfish: I want my hope recharged.
[clickToTweet tweet=”I often end a speech with, Send me your good news! It builds my reservoir of HOPE! #publishing” quote=”I often end a speech with: Send me your good news! It builds my reservoir of HOPE! #publishing”]
Send me your good news! I want to hear and rejoice with you!
Please add your good news in the comments so we can all rejoice with you.
I can’t tell you how often I have been afraid of the word, “hope.” Hope meant something was submitted, something was “out there!” with the possibility of acceptance! Hope also meant a renewed fear of failure, of hearing “not a fit,” or “try us again with something else.”
It is in this context that I am SO HAPPY to share with you today my WONDERFUL NEWS that SOPHIE’S QUEST, a novel for ages 8-12, is being launched THIS SATURDAY, June 13th, after being in the works for nearly 15 YEARS. Hip, hip hooray! I’m so happy I never let the fear of hope kept me from trying yet again.
My daughter read her fifth grade notebook of stories to my husband and me.
Wow, Heather. That is a thrill.
Darcy
Sonja:
A journey of 15-years. Wow!
Hope kept you going all those years and now that hope has come to life!
Congratulations!
Thanks for encouraging me with your news.
Darcy
My second book,War Beneath the Waves: Submarine Stories of the Twentieth Century, published by Skyhorse Publishing will be released November 2015.Jeanie Loiacono is my agent from Loiacono Literary Agency.
Thank you Darcy for your support all these years.
Mary Nida-
That’s so exciting. SO glad to hear your good news and may there be many more bits of good news to come.
Darcy