If you are one of the groupies who’ve been following the unexpected positive progress of the mystery novel set Ginger Work and I collaborated on, you need to sit down. I have some disappointing news. In a recent email from a very kind editor, we were informed that Bethany House has decided not to pursue publication of our mysterty manuscript, set in the wilds of northwest South Dakota and southeastern Montana.
Before you start sending condolences, please realize that the project stayed alive much longer than expected. And before you mutter anything unkind about the editor, you should know that she sent a very long and encouraging critique, suggesting ways to rewrite the story and expressing interest in seeing any rewrites we might do.
So as far as rejections go, this one was a winner. For me, it was also an answer to prayer, because life has been busy lately – what with book promotion, two blogs, an increase in speaking engagements, and a son getting married in April – and I knew something had to give. So I’d been asking God to make clear what to pursue in the next several months, and He sure did.
The day we received the Bethany House rejection, the editor at Discovery House (They published A Different Dream for My Child) to say they would like to see another book proposal after the first of the year. They’re interested in a guide for parents with spiritual applications, a practical companion for A Different Dream.
But don’t think the mystery has been abandoned. Ginger has my blessing to pursue the suggested rewrite and submit it on her own. And once there’s a break in my writing schedule, my fingers are itching to flesh out new mystery idea that keeps dancing in the back of my brain.
However, for the next month I’ll put meat on what are as yet the very bare bones of the requested book proposal. If you have ideas about issues that should be addressed, please send them my way. I need all the help I can get!
