Well, I’m still in search of that one person who believes in the Pay It Forward concept — who will bestow her or his grace upon us and jump-start our writing careers.
I did a quick search on friendship books and came across Kelly Valen’s “The Twisted Sisterhood: Unraveling The Dark Legacy of Female Friendships”. Her book caused me to visit her website (http://www.kellyvalen.com/); and it was her genuineness that encouraged me to reach out to her for her guidance.
It’s always a risk when I reach out to someone for help. I never know if the person will be receptive or not. I never know if the person will take the time to respond or not. I understand that going into it, but I think… what do I have to lose?
In this case, I had nothing to worry about. Kelly Valen emailed me back immediately. She was very personable, friendly, open, encouraging, inviting, and helpful.
Kelly admits that her path to becoming published was somewhat unconventional. She was very lucky that, once her piece was published in the New York Times, things started falling into place for her.
She’s in a similar category as us. She’s not a psychologist or a celebrity. She wasn’t a known-author or blogger. She’s a mom who had a few publishing credits to her name… and that’s about it.
She suggested that we look into getting an essay or excerpt published somewhere — whether it is in a magazine, newspaper, or wherever. Something like that may just kick-start things for us, as it did for her.
I like that idea a lot, simply because it’s something that I can actually work on accomplishing!
So, I’ve picked up another little project to add to the others… all to reach our ultimate goal of becoming published authors.
I really appreciate Kelly taking the time to write us back and give us her opinions and suggestions to help us on our journey.
What I appreciate the most is her request for us to keep her posted on our progress. It makes me feel like we have picked up a supportive ally on this journey of ours.
Thank you, Kelly!
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