T is for Tasting the Grass by Annalisa Rowe

Okay, so I admit, this is another cheat post, because it's about me! (Rowe is my maiden name.) I tried very hard to come up with an inspiring T, but I obviously have a huge gap in my literary knowledge. At this point, U isn't looking too good either! Anyway, back to T...

Tasting the Grass (I posted it here last year - feel free to read and comment, either here or there) was published by New Fiction magazine in October 1994, back when there were a proliferation of small press magazines to submit to.

It was my first published story, and - as you can see - I still have the magazine.

I started writing for submission - as opposed to just writing - in 1993 when I left school and was unemployed. I wrote loads that year, and the next, and finally I was accepted. I had another acceptance the following month... and then nothing. Every couple of years, I'd maybe have one or two stories accepted or win a prize - if you check this link to my CV page, you'll see my stop-start career. My big break never came.

Over the years, I've had some wonderfully encouraging rejection letters and critiques through competitions. Each time I thought I was on the verge. I'd see the same names alongisde mine in the longlists, and then gradually those names would start moving up into the winning places, and finally they'd have their books published. Names like Helen Dunmore and Sally Zigmond.

But I'm happy. In that time - has it really been 18 years! - I've got married, had two children, worked and re-trained. Each time I've truly thought about giving up, I've had success with a submission, and of course carried on. Because, really, I never want to give up writing.

And then, last year, my biggest success so far came with the acceptance of Cat and the Dreamer.

So, in a roundabout way, this post isn't about me at all - it's about saying don't give up! If you truly want to write, then write and see where it takes you - it's taken me 18 years to get to this point. If you want to make lots of money, perhaps you should try a different career. 

And as Joanne Trollope famously said about her own career: "It's taken me 20 years to become an overnight success."