Well Phewy

I mentioned I was waiting... and some of my waiting is over.

I got my 'thanks but no thanks' letter in response to the grant I applied for back in May. I've applied now three times and gotten this letter - pretty much word for word the same - three times. Ouch.

There's a lot of risk in this writing thing. You know that dream where you show up at school naked? Well it's not quite that, but there are a lot of similarities. To write a book - well, not all books, those 'for Dummies' books probably don't count. Or cookbooks - but to write most other books you have to lay out words that are sprinkled with bits of yourself. Ew. That sounds gross. I mean to write a book that is relevant to readers, something that people will CARE about, you have to put something relatable in it. You have to show yourself. And not the macho tough self, unless you are writing for macho tough readers. So while I expect to be fully clothed at any public sharing of Game Plan or The Second One, each time I share it with someone - or anyone - I'm exposed.

So I wrote an application asking for funding. Showed them a little bit of my story (of me). It's tough to keep it objective. Of course there's nothing personal - they filter through piles of applications and only have so much to give out - but when I read that 'thanks but no thanks' letter, it takes a lot of effort to remember that.

Bottom line is, it doesn't change anything. I don't write stories to get rich (though that would be nice, eh JK?) so receiving funding only makes things easier. There's always next time.

N