A Toast To All Us Little Guys

Okay, everyone — hold up your glasses. I’d like to make a toast. I know it’s not New Year’s Eve yet, but you can’t blame a girl for getting a jump on things. I can’t let this perfectly good glass of wine go to waste without toasting something … or someone.

So, let’s toast all us little guys — We who write our stories with our big hearts and sometimes less-than-confident fingers. We who get up at four in the morning … or stay up well past bedtime just to ponder a few new sentences, or roll some words across our tongues to see which best fit our purpose. Oh, and here’s to those of us who finish our stories, and then find the courage to actually consider the rough-and-tumble notion of sending out queries. Queries! To agents or editors. My God, how brave to do such a thing! And especially, here’s to those of us who fall down and scrape our knees in the scuffle, yet still hold up our handful of rejections letters because we’re so damned proud of ourselves for getting in the melee in the first place.

I’m proud of us all.

If I sound more schmaltzy than usual, I suppose it’s just because I get all misty-eyed this time of year. All the music gets to me. The presents. The bows, for heaven’s sake. The silly Christmas bows. My hundredth viewing of Miracle on 34th Street sends me over the top. Santa seems to be my influence de jour, and then there’s that gosh-darned Grinch when his heart grows three sizes in one day. That’s a three-hanky film for the likes of me.

Oh, sorry. Back to the toast. Okay, so here’s to that grand moment when one of our stories gets noticed. One of the pack rises high enough to catch an agent’s eye. An editor’s pen. Here’s to one of the little guys who gets to run their fingers over the cover of a printed and bound book. Their Book!

For the past several days, my favorite writing guru and bloggist, Anne Mini, (see www.annemini.com) has featured two excellent writers who’ve each found the courage to navigate the rocky avenue of self-publication. I’ve come away from reading their interviews with renewed confidence and inspiration that publication IS possible, even if we do it ourselves. Studying their respective experiences has allowed me to consider the question, So what if I’m a little guy? Who says I can’t produce my OWN fait accompli? Who says?

So, hold your glasses high to all us little guys. After all, we’re the ones who watch the mail for that one magical acceptance letter that will change our lives and cause our tiny little hearts to grow three sizes in one day. As always — Here’s to us.

Clink!