*Today's post was contributed by Frank Talaber. Frank and I met earlier this year
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Who has ever read the classic Winds of Change by Henry P. Samuels? The literary classic that has spanned the realm of the last century, won the Pulitzer prize, generated numerous spinoff series, made into movies and TV series, like The Changing Winds, or The Breeze Blows In Another Direction Today. The author wrote fifteen sequels, although none were as great as the original. That book alone has outsold all of the Harry Potter novels and made the author a net worth value of over four hundred million dollars.
Ask one of our great fiction writers, Stephen King. Those of you who regularly read this blog will already know this story, and with apologies to you for the repetition, I am repeating myself because it is probably the best example of the word “perseverance” that I am aware of. The story goes that he gave up after Carrie came back from its umpteenth potential publisher with the usual standard letter that began “Thank you for your submission. However...” Thankfully his wife didn’t. She took it out of the garbage can it had been unceremoniously
pitched in and slammed it on his desk. “You tell me you’re a writer, now put it out there, again.” As you have probably guessed (or else this is not a very uplifting story) the very next publisher accepted it. That is why King fans everywhere now sleep with one eye open at night after reading one of his novels. Thanks Stephen.
To be honest we’ll never know how many great literary classics have been pitched into rubbish bins, since they all became squirrel hors d’oeuvres or used as fuel to keep hands warm on the last camping trip of the summer (or maybe even toast the marshmallow for s’mores!).
"You gain strength, courage and confidence
~~~
Check out his website at: https://
Why My Novel Is The Number One Squirrel Hors D’oeuvre
Who was Henry P. Samuels?
Well, in his world he gave up on himself and pitched that novel into the dumpster, took a job as an insurance agent, had three kids and liver failure at 58 due to drinking too much. His regrets in life: huge ...for giving up.
Well, in his world he gave up on himself and pitched that novel into the dumpster, took a job as an insurance agent, had three kids and liver failure at 58 due to drinking too much. His regrets in life: huge ...for giving up.
Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize
how close they were to success
when they gave up.
~ Thomas Edison
Ask one of our great fiction writers, Stephen King. Those of you who regularly read this blog will already know this story, and with apologies to you for the repetition, I am repeating myself because it is probably the best example of the word “perseverance” that I am aware of. The story goes that he gave up after Carrie came back from its umpteenth potential publisher with the usual standard letter that began “Thank you for your submission. However...” Thankfully his wife didn’t. She took it out of the garbage can it had been unceremoniously
pitched in and slammed it on his desk. “You tell me you’re a writer, now put it out there, again.” As you have probably guessed (or else this is not a very uplifting story) the very next publisher accepted it. That is why King fans everywhere now sleep with one eye open at night after reading one of his novels. Thanks Stephen.
To be honest we’ll never know how many great literary classics have been pitched into rubbish bins, since they all became squirrel hors d’oeuvres or used as fuel to keep hands warm on the last camping trip of the summer (or maybe even toast the marshmallow for s’mores!).
"You gain strength, courage and confidence
By every experience
In which you really stop to look fear in the face.
“I lived through this horror.
I can take the next thing that comes along.”
You must do the thing you think you cannot do.
~ Eleanor Roosevelt
So why do I continue to write?
Because it keeps firing the passion in my soul.
Because it keeps firing the passion in my soul.
Just ask young nineteen year old Godwin’e M Luther living in Jinja Bugiri, Uganda. He contacted me on Facebook, an orphan, no father, has nothing and asks for nothing, yet he continues to write, struggling to go to university. Has three novels written on notebooks, can’t afford a computer. His words evoke sheer eloquence. Ask him what fires his soul. And if so inclined, send him some money to support his authorship. Yes, this is a real person.
Some people are born storytellers. I remember telling my son Rory bedtime stories. He’d give me two or three characters and off I’d go, usually leaving him in stitches laughing, instead of going to sleep. Maybe where some of my off the wall humour came from.
“Come to the edge,” he said.
They said, “We are afraid.”
“Come to the edge,” he said.
They came.
He pushed them…
And they flew.
~ Guillaume Apollinaire
~~~
Thank you for sharing this interesting article and fantastic quotes with us today, Frank. :)
ReplyDeleteFor every success there’s many failures; it’s all about fine tuning the dream.
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