A Week in Writing #50

This has not been the best week I've had since I started this blog, one full of rejections of one form or another. Of course, there was another email from one of the July 4th queries. I didn't really have to read it to know it was a rejection."Doesn’t sound quite right for my list"; there's that magic word again. Didn't make the list again.

But the biggest rejection was still to come. If you've been reading this blog for the last couple of weeks (and there are a handful that have been), you know that my son, Paul, and I attended our fourth Comic Creator Connection at this year's San Diego Comic-Con and had thought we'd found an artist to bring our comic book to life. We had begun to do rewrites on the script and while it wasn't finished, we were feeling pretty good about the direction things were going in. The artist's suggestions had gotten our creative juices flowing and we think the story was improving. And there in lies the mistake: We were feeling pretty good.

Last week, we had sent our latest rewrite to our artist, but we had not heard back. While he had usually been responsive, we didn't hear anything from him for a week. Our follow up email was responded to at about 11 on Wednesday night. Due to "new professional obligations", he was out. Gone from the project. Honestly, it felt like a punch to the stomach, and led to a sleepless night. Nothing like being dumped back at square one to give you doubts.

But we have vowed to finish the rewrite, turning to a friend/teacher with experience in the comic book industry, to give the script a look and make suggestions. When we have it the way we want it to be, then we'll go out and find an artist.

Nothing like a dose of rejection reality to throw you off your game. I don't really feel like I ever got into a rhythm this week. I was working on a rewrite of the second story for the comic, but after losing the artist, it felt like I was doing it for no reason. The wind was taken from my sails, at least temporarily.

Still managed to post a review on Trophy Unlocked for the movie Office Space (1999) and wrote and published a review for Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, so it was not a total loss.

On the still missing editor, I decided not to follow up, since I feared the same rejection I had gotten from the artist. I'm hoping that since he made a commitment over a year ago that he will come back around. I really do value his insight and suggestions and I think together we've made the book stronger. I just want to get it finished and throw it out there into the query world. Who knows, maybe this will be the one that lands me on some agent's line.