i'm being interviewed!!

This is another in the continuing web of blogosphere interviews.

Professional radio personality Cindy Swanson, who blogs at Notes in the Key of Life asks me these questions. (And I think my answers are way too long-winded. In real life, I’m sure she’d have to cut me off for important stuff like commercials or just 'get on with it'. Oh well...)

1) I know you are a published writer. How do you handle rejection slips?

I’ve had my share, and I handle them pretty much in three ways.

a] I try to handle them philsophically. The first rejection slip I ever got was for some craft ideas I submitted to Hopscotch. This was way back when I was still taking a writing course. Some weeks later, a familiar-looking envelope arrived (my SASE) containing a form letter saying ‘no thanks.’ I pretty much took this in stride. I was new at this business, still had much to learn and at least I was submitting.

b] But rejections have immobilized me. That’s what happened after one I got from gp4k.com. By that time I’d already pitched and sold an article to editor Roseanne Tolin, so when I got her go-ahead on another one, and worked weeks to get the thing thoroughly researched and enticingly written, I was shocked when, less than 24 hours after I’d emailed it to her, I got a to-the-point reply which said, in effect, research is impressive, but this is boring. Talk about a sucker punch. I was pretty much out of commission for weeks after that.

c] My relationship with Pockets typifies the perseverence I try to cultivate. Right from when I first started submitting stuff for publication (circa 1997), I’d send them things. Always they came back. But the sample magazine of theirs was so beautiful (and their pay rates so good - for children’s), I was determined they would publish me. Finally one day, instead of my SASE, I got a postcard (on their dime) telling me they were holding my story for their editorial meeting in November. Yes! But, sadly, November came and so did the manuscript, back to me with a note: ‘Not suitable for our needs.’ With Pockets, though, I was a bulldog. And it paid off. They finally accepted one of my pieces in the spring of 2003. I’ve since had another acceptance from them, and a few weeks ago, another postcard telling me they’ll be holding a manuscript of mine for further consideration - until (get this) March of 2006!

2) What do you enjoy most about blogging?
I love being my own editor! It is so fun, writing what I want, as long or short as I want, on whatever subjects I want. And I also thoroughly enjoy the interaction with other bloggers–the way it stimulates ideas and keeps one thinking and on one’s toes.

3) What's your favorite holiday and why?
It’s got to be summer vacation. My favorite thing is to go away for a week or two with hubby, rent a cottage or a hotel room by a lake somewhere – say Osoyoos or Shuswap on the mainland, or Lake Cowichan on Vancouver Island– and simply veg - read, play games, listen to music, have long devotions, sun, go for walks, drives, sightsee. I love the change of pace and scenery and how I come back to the work-world mellowed and with a changed perspective.

4) You're going to a desert island, but you get to take five things with you.
What would they be?
I would take five kits: a food preparation kit; a shelter kit; a communication kit; a writing kit; a Bible study kit
(This is NOT cheating. Though these kits contain more than one thing, every solitary item one could choose contains many things as well. A book, for example, contains two covers, many pages and a ton of words.)

5) What do you like best about your husband?
There are so many things I could pick–his sense of humor, his loyalty, his helpfulness... But I will pick one thing that overrides all those–his integrity. He does not play games, is not sneaky or underhanded (although he does know how to drive a hard bargain when wheeling and dealing e.g. buying a car). You know where you stand with him. He’s straight with you and he expects you to be straight with him. If he says he will do something–he’ll do it. He’s a rock and I love that!

************

Would you like to play the interview game? Here's how:

1. Leave me a comment saying “interview me.” The first five commenters will be the participants.

2. I will respond by asking you five questions.

3. You will update your blog/site with the answers to the questions.

4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.

5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions. (Write your own questions or borrow some.)