When I was 23, I had over 20 interviews with the Oxford University Press. Every time, for Assistant Marketing Manager. Every time, a different department. Every time, I got down to the last two candidates. And it never, ever got that job.
When I was last single, I tried online dating. The first guy I met was absolutely great. He was clever, and cute, and made me laugh and laugh. He was Canadian. He asked me to make out with him (!) at a train station. And I never saw him again. He never answered a single one of my texts.
I stopped applying because I got offered a job at a charity, that I loved, and paid enough to live on for a four day week, so I started properly writing again.
I met my husband the week after that date.
Today, I got my first rejection of this round of query letters. It’s just business, of course. No reflection on the work, not really. There are so many manuscripts out there. One rejection’s nothing. Chin up! Keep trying!!
Obviously, it’s impossible not to be downhearted.
And it’s a trite thing to say, I know. And when you’re in it, it’s hard to believe. But sometimes when opportunities don’t work out, that’s a good thing. It leaves room for better ones to take their place.
So this is not a commiseration drink. It’s a glass to a celebration that hasn’t quite happened yet.
