Yer doin' it wrong.

Two weeks ago, I received a partial manuscript request from an agent. Needless to say, I was all giddy with excitement.

Last Friday, I received a "Thanks, but no thanks" from her. She said that the beginning didn't hook her the way she'd hoped it would. I'll admit it. I was bummed.

When I finally came down from the ledge, I started thinking.

Maybe it's not the agent's loss. What if she's not the half-witted idiot my friends and family accused her of being for not falling madly in love with my manuscript?

What if she's right?

After the gut-wrenching sobs of self-doubt subsided, I put the voodoo doll back into the drawer and turned to my manuscript.

Even though I thought it was full of awesomeness, I understood what she meant as I read it with fresh eyes. I swallowed my pride and decided to put her criticism to work for me instead of letting it fester until I'm hiding in the closet, rocking back and forth in a fetal position screaming her name over and over again. I don't want to change it though.

I want to make it better.

I realize that I don't know everything there is to know about everything (don't tell my kids), so I'm opening a brand new bag of Twizzlers and diving in.

By the way, if you hear blood-curdling screams every few minutes, just ignore them. I know I said that I put the voodoo doll back into the drawer, but I didn't say how many I have;)