Am I barking at the moon?

Yes, it’s me Dolly again the four-legged writer!

A wag of the tail for those of you who remember me from last week, and licks for those of you who actually wrote in telling me that you enjoyed my rant. I am glad there are some of you who appreciated me and your kind words have really helped, especially this week. ‘Cos guess what? I got a rejection letter this week. And gloom is me!

So if you think that picture of that snooty pug who lives two houses away, looking sad because someone stole his chewy toy is sad, I am quite a lot sadder.

It’s been hard to find the spirit to lift that tail and come out of it. I’ve pretty much been passing the week slinking around, tail slung between my legs or lying beneath Shweta’s bed with my head on my paws. The neighborhood community howl sessions did help me get out of it a little bit though. And mid-howl, the thought occurred to me, I’m not the only one who’s ever had a rejection letter right? I hear that a novel about a talking seagull got rejected twenty three times before readers finally got to lay their hands on it. So maybe I need a lot of rejections to make me the most successful writer ever right? I sure as hell hope not, because that letter my two-legged friend was so painful, that I doubt I can take a lot more of those. Don’t believe me? See for yourself!

Dear Dolly,

Thank you for your recent submission to the ‘Living with Pets’ Anthology. Unfortunately, I have decided to pass on your story. This is not reflective of the quality of your writing, I just didn’t feel it was a good fit for this anthology.

I hope you will continue to submit your work us and wish you the best of luck in all of your writing endeavors.

Sincerely,

XXX

Sigh. Each time I re-read that my heart sinks a little lower and I feel much older than my ten dog years.

I don’t get it. If I was rejected how is it not reflective of my writing? And if I a dog cant make it to a Pets anthology, then on what grounds do I resubmit work to these publishers?

Each time a rejection letter comes by I get the feeling that I’m barking at the moon. Maybe all the quotable things about everything have already been quoted.

Maybe all the possible stories about everything possible have been told.

Maybe my bark does sound exactly like that sad pug who stays two houses away…

Wait a minute, that’s not right! Even if we howl about the exact same things, we sound totally different! And that’s what counts right? Now where do I get a publisher who gets that?

Oh well here’s hoping that this week is not all about living the stereotypical dogs life.

So with as much spirit I can muster here’s a wag for all of you,

Yours truly,

Dolly

Image source : www.dipity.com/ tickr/Flickr_pug

Shweta Ganesh Kumar is a journalist turned NGO activist turned Writer/Blogger/Author who finds bliss in traveling to places known and unknown! She blogs about life, travels and food here , here and here

And can be followed on twitter here