I went on a date the other night…and boy are my arms tired.

*rimshot*

*canned laughter*

So anyway….I went on a date. My first in a very long time. A very VERY long time. My youngest child was in kindegarten the last time I went on a date, so I finally break down and go on a date, a real one with a real man even. Dude….

Leave it to me to find myself sitting across from a newbie, struggling writer who had recently finished his first manuscript. He was full of hopes and dreams, but not many clues if you catch my drift.

The funny thing is i don’t normally TELL men I’m a writer, because inevitably, they ask what I write, then they ask if they can be the star of my next wip. Um  :no:

Now, I know that none of us REALLY understand the publishing business, but this little angel was kinda clueless, naive even. I don’t think, even in my earliest days of writing I was ever that naive. While I, like probably every other writer on the planet, dreamed of selling my first manuscript, I also set out to do everything possible to make it happen. I queried agents and editors, I entered contests, I read, I googled, I filled my little brain with KNOWLEDGE..and I did not think about self-publishing after only a few rejections.

Which brings me to the point of this blog post and something I never got to ask him–what did he want as a writer? Did he want to be published–in which case self-publishing is fine. Or did he want to conquer New York? I’m not sure why I didn’t ask. Maybe at that point, I didn’t want to burst his bubble, maybe I was feeling optimistic that he was a decent writer, even that one in a million that might sell that first book with a little perseverance, so I sat there nodding my head, mumbling words of encouragement when what I really wanted to do was go, “Look dumbass! A few agent rejections is nothing. I’ve gotten hundreds of rejections. I’m on my third agent and I STILL get rejections! Suck it up, buddy! And grow a pair while you’re at it.”

So was I wrong? Should I have burst his bubble (gently or otherwise)? And what would/have you do(ne) in thsi situation.

———

* PS  And dont’ worry…he never called me back so I’m not worried he’ll find this blog post about him.

PSS If nothing else I also got a great plot twist for my book outta this meeting *laugh*