This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Lena S. May will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
When you’re fourteen years old and your teachers invite you to do a project that allows you to leave class three times a week to work on your very first novel, and then have to present said novel to your entire school – including your classmates who actually had to attend Chemistry and Physics – negative criticism is pretty much guaranteed.
Note: This deal includes free bullying for at least another year.
When you’re fifteen years old and your heart is still screaming I want to be an author, and you’re also determined to prove to your peers that you can actually make it, one night you might grab your manuscript and start contacting the biggest publishing houses you can find. Their submission guidelines tell you that you have to be patient, and so you wait.
Three months, six months, a year.
The good news is, at that point receiving negative criticism is extremely unlikely again – because you’ll never hear from them.
Note: That is technically not true; one or two might eventually send a standardized rejection letter, which hurts like hell, but at least they noticed you, right?
Sixteen, and not writing is still off the table. You’ve got the stories in your head and the characters in your heart, and somehow you’re still convinced it’s all going to work out. For now, the people who read your stories are your little sister and your best friend, and negative criticism comes in the form of He’d look better with bright blue eyes and I’d rather you write another story about that boy with the eating disorder.
Note: This stage is invaluable and you’ll be eternally grateful for it, but they’ll refuse to take the credit, so years later, you’ll put their names in the acknowledgments of your debut and there’s nothing they can do about it. Ha.
Eighteen, and somehow life has gotten in the way. You haven’t written anything decent in a while, and you probably won’t for another year, two, maybe even three. You’re now supposed to pick a university, or a career, start to figure things out, but you can’t – all you want to be is an author, after all. Negative criticism has turned into Being an author can’t be your Plan A and You’ll never make money writing and At least get a decent degree first.
Twenty-three. You still haven’t managed to get that “decent degree” – all you want to do is write, like it always was. By now, you have studied four different subjects and quit two of them; you have tried to learn Spanish, Italian and Ancient Greek so now you can order a beer in four languages and forget how to even read another one; you have worked in daycare, in a bakery, at a language school – but you’re still not an author.
Enter: A pandemic.
Note: If you’re lucky and there’s no pandemic, just pretend.
You stay at home. You gather all the bits and pieces you have written about those characters having lived rent-free in your heart since you were sixteen. You sit your ass down and write that manuscript, and you just know this is the one. This is the novel that you want people to read, this is what you will find a publisher for. Unfortunately, no publisher has kicked in your door yet. So you do the research.
You contact the agents and publishing houses, five or six at the time, for months. You have an excel sheet to keep track of the rejections. You know there will be a lot of those. You don’t know if you’re ready for that, but you have to try.
One, two, twenty-five, then a small publisher shows seemingly serious interest, then ghosts you.
Negative criticism, if any is included in the rejections, looks like I just couldn’t connect to the characters like I had hoped.
In my experience, this is the exact moment that decides whether you will succeed or not, and I don’t think this is limited to becoming an author. From what I’ve heard and read, it’s similar for all kinds of visions, dreams, goals.
You know exactly what you want. The world has repeatedly told you that you can’t have it. A little voice in your head starts telling you to quit.
Do you?
Don’t. The moment you feel your biggest failure might just be the moment right before your biggest success.
I’m twenty-five years old now. My debut novel is on the verge of being released, my publisher’s criticism sounded like Let’s work on this together and I think we have done a pretty good job.
If you’re going to take any piece of advice from me, let it be this:
Listen when your heart tells you where it wants to go. And refuse to quit until you get there.
Thrown out by his mother, 17-year-old Luke hopes to overcome his narcotic addiction and depression by changing his surroundings. At his new school, he quickly becomes friends with Sean, but finding that his developing feelings aren’t returned, Luke retreats into old habits. Determined to hide his self-injurious behavior and an advancing eating disorder, he soon risks much more than a broken heart.
When Sean meets Luke, the last thing on his mind is falling in love with a boy. Grappling with his own conflicting emotions and trying to keep them from his suspicious girlfriend, he brushes off Luke’s strange behavior. But when Luke suddenly cuts him off, Sean is forced to confront the truth and take action to save his best friend.
Enjoy an Excerpt
It’s my fault.
I’m not sure how yet, but it’s what the white blank hospital room walls keep hammering into my head as the pungent, antiseptic smell makes my eyes water when all I’m trying to do is keep my composure.
My fault.
It’s what they’re all trying to say – the half-dead, bled-out body of the boy lying in the bed beside me, his fingers slowly losing their grip on mine, the over-worked and under-paid nurse already rushing down the corridor, the non-specialist assistant doctor, paying half his attention to the arrhythmically beeping monitor, the other half to fumbling his phone to mute.
And then there’s my brother, leaning against the wall in the corner, his crystal blue eyes asking not what I’ve done but when I’d planned on telling him that I was gay – which I’m really not. When I don’t react, he looks down to the face resting on the pillow next to my elbow, and I do, too: empty whiteness staring back. I’m beginning to think it’s burning into my retina, sucking every last speck of color out of the sky as I finally raise my glance to the window. I can’t let myself get lost in the void that is now his face if I want to clear my head, but there isn’t a single cloud drifting by to take hold of my attention, not a single leaf left in the trees, no bird, not even a gust of wind. It’s just me and my trembling heart and my racing thoughts, and yet, my loneliness is nothing in the face of what I now know he has been going through.
About the Author:
Lena S. May is a Germany-based author and student. Living with her dog, she enjoys long walks, ideally followed by a cup of tea and an equally long reading session. After graduating university with a degree in English and American and German Studies, she is working towards her Master of Education to become a secondary school teacher. With her writing, Lena hopes to raise more awareness for mental health and the importance of looking out for one another and oneself. Her debut novel will be published in August 2022.
I ended up at the Hampton Inn in Bourne, Massachusetts, an hour’s drive from my house and just steps from the Cape Cod Canal, which is lined on both sides by a seven-mile walking and biking path. The rate was within my budget, the stay included breakfast, and the room came with a coffee maker, a microwave, and a refrigerator, which allowed me to bring my own supplies for lunch and dinner.
On a scale of 1-10, my retreat was an 11. My room was sunny and comfortable, the canal path was a welcome mental and physical break, my schedule afforded me the right blend of writing and relaxation, and the coaching and guidance within Story Genius gave my novel the jump start it needed. I drove home excited and empowered, which was precisely how I wanted to feel.
Deep into her 40s with a lackluster career, Georgie wonders how she became so…underwhelming. If she’s not battling her micromanaging boss and egotistical CEO, she’s trying to quiet her inner voice, the one whispering that she hasn’t lived up to the cool, funny and creative person she used to be.
Kerry Crisley is a communications professional, with a focus on the nonprofit sector. Fiction, however, is her first love; she wrote and directed an original play performed by her second grade classmates and has been writing ever since. She lives in Wakefield, Massachusetts with her husband, their children, and their (very spoiled) rescue dog. When not at work, Kerry can usually be found reading, hiking, or getting into a wide variety of shenanigans with her book club. Anything to avoid housework.
In The Time Traveling Matchmaker, love takes on a new meaning when soul mates are brought together through time and space.
Janie Emaus believes when the world is falling apart, we’re just one laugh away from putting it together again. The Time Traveling Matchmaker is her debut adult novel. She is also the author of the blended holiday picture books, Latkes for Santa Claus, and the forthcoming Matzo Balls & Easter Eggs. Her essays, stories and articles have been published in numerous magazines, anthologies, and websites. In 2016 she won an honorary mention in the Erma Bombeck Writing competition. To learn more about Janie visit her at her website.
The death of her husband has thrown Lady Maria Kersey’s future into doubt—and her heart into the arms of a man she cannot have. But Christmas with the Widows’ Club will bring choices—and surprises–that may change all her holidays to come . . .
Jenna Jaxon is a best-selling author of historical romance, writing in a variety of time periods because she believes that passion is timeless. She has been reading and writing historical romance since she was a teenager. A romantic herself, Jenna has always loved a dark side to the genre, a twist, suspense, a surprise. She tries to incorporate all of these elements into her own stories.
When Marissa’s fiancé leaves her unexpectedly, she is left trying to put the broken pieces of her life back together again. The magical years of her childhood are now lost or long forgotten and, trapped in a downward spiral of worry and anxiety, nothing seems to be bringing the magic back any time soon.
Abby Wynne is the bestselling author of the “One Day at a Time Diary”, “How to Be Well” and “Energy Healing made Easy.” The Inner Compass Trilogy is her first novel, weaving her knowledge of shamanism, psychotherapy and energy healing into an exciting, fast-paced story which spans across many dimensions. Abby’s based in Ireland and lives with her husband, 4 children, a dog and a cat! Abby offers many ways to feel supported while you are on your path of healing; her mission is to empower people by teaching them how to heal themselves.
Dr Avery Hutton lives in good times. All of humanity now lives under the Global republic, a democratic government that works hard to protect the rights of their citizens, expand orbital infrastructure and explore space. The last of which is helped by the relatively new Warp Drive, allowing probes to travel to and from the nearest stars over the course of a few years.
I am a new author and this is my first book. I started working on this story around 2016 and have been refining it ever since. 
