Readers!
On top of all the bad news in the NEWS last week, I got some bad news myself: the agent I’d signed with to represent a non-fiction project had asked to see my novel. She thought my writing is strong, but passed on representing it. Deep sigh.
I don’t know any writer who hasn’t faced rejection. We are in a rejection-prone field. We have to come up with ideas and try to find the right homes for them, and even if you’re someone who doesn’t pitch, you’re still tossing your credentials in the path of potential clients, many of whom won’t even reply. It can be a demoralizing process.
But over time, getting used to rejection builds resilience too. I don’t date anymore, but when I did, I said the process didn’t sting so much because of how many nos I got in my professional life. While that agent’s email pinched, she did point out that she didn’t think she was the right person to represent the project. Agents have to reject people all the time, and as someone who has previously had an agent who half-assed her job (who I then fired), I don’t want someone else doing the same for me because they feel they’re being kind. This is a business. People have to represent what they think they can sell. I’d rather have someone working for me with 100% gusto. The rejection hurt, but not as much as it might have when I was starting out.
It’s a cliche, but remember: it’s business. It’s not personal, even if the work is something you’ve poured your heart into.
As for the novel, I’m going to keep working on it, get some feedback from other writers to make sure it’s still something someone will want to read, and then start sending it around to other agents. I may not do it at this exact moment, but I believe in it, so I don’t see why one “no” should keep me from moving forward. The same is true with freelance writing too.
Two more things before I get on with it:
First, thank you to everyone who reached out about consults and consulting. Clearly, there’s a need here! I am going to keep accepting people as long as they keep asking – more information here.
And second, a PSA. Last week, I had a mole with some funky cells removed from my back. And while it’s an enormous pain (nine stitches in a spot I can’t reach, and then I had an allergic reaction to the tape used to keep the bandage in place), I no longer have those funky cells that could have turned into something much worse. If you are able, get a skin check. I go twice of year because I have eczema, and she caught it on one of those regular appointments.
Recent Bylines
“Corn’s ancient ancestor calling: genomic encyclopedia sheds light on domestication 9,000 years ago,” Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
“Nature is trying to tell you something,” Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
“From trading faxes to saving lives,” Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
“Big clues emerge in small RNA history,” Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
“In 2025, hiring will be shaped by technology — for better or for worse,” HR Dive
“What hiring managers should know about the 2025 labor market,” HR Dive
What I’m Reading
- Virgins of Venice: Broken Vows and Cloistered Lives in the Renaissance Convent by Mary Laven. Nuns of the renaissance were probably not what would you recognize as nuns today. This book is about those who lived in Venice: pushed away from public life, often “sold” there by fathers who couldn’t afford marriage dowries (though instead they still paid the church to keep them for far less than a dowry). A lot of what is in the book is awful, but it also shows how these women were able to create their own communities and how they tried to thrive in them. The book also includes stories about nuns who fled and dressed like friars to join monasteries and nuns who were such “good friends” that they shared a bed. This book is 23 years old, so I won’t knock it for not saying what we can clearly see now, but it’s also a good reminder that queer people, including transgender people, have always existed — and always will. I picked this up at the Autumn Leaves Used Bookstore in Ithaca, N.Y. Highly recommend it if you’re in town.
- On the Spine of Italy: A Year in Abruzzi by Harry Clifton. An Irish poet and his wife live in what’s essentially an empty church building on the top of a mountain in Italy for a year, and he wrote about it. It’s fine, but like many of the books that tried to ride the coattails of Under the Tuscan Sun, he often reduces the Italians in this community to quirky scenery. I don’t regret reading it (my Italian family is from Citta Sant’Angelo in Abruzzo) but it won’t crack my top 10 books about Italy I’ve read.
- Murder at the Powderhorn Ranch by Jessica Fletcher and Donald Bain. Someone in my community likes these Murder, She Wrote books, because I keep finding them in Little Free Libraries, and I’m glad! Sometimes you need a cozy mystery (in this case for my flight home from Los Angeles). In this one, Jessica is invited to the ranch of two former Cabot Cove residents. A couple and a rich family doing a reunion are also there during her stay and YOU GUESSED IT, someone is murdered. Oh no! Will Jessica figure out it? Of course she does. What else would you expect? I will also use this opportunity to once again point out that Donald Bain was an American Airlines marketing executive who was the real person behind the book Coffee, Tea or Me? which pushed forward the idea of the sexy stewardess.
- The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley. Another book where a bunch of people are in an isolated occasion and there’s a murder. It’s a tried and true format for a reason! In this book though you also don’t know exactly who has died is until very late in the book. This is one where I started out thinking “eh it’s OK” and then was so into it that I was reading passages between phone calls. I did guess who who was killed and who did the killing — go me!
- Bubble in the Sun: The Florida Boom of the 1920s and how it Brought on the Great Depression by Christopher Knowlton, read by Fred Sanders. I love Florida, and I love stories about real estate follies, and this book hit both with this book about what Knowlton calls “middle aged men behaving badly.” I’m not sure I buy that the too-fast growth in Florida was the cause of the Great Depression, but it certainly didn’t help. The book mostly focused on the Atlantic coast around Miami, but I still bummed that Henry B. Plant wasn’t here — he built the hotel that has long been the keystone building of the University of Tampa, where I went to college. I got to take classes in it. It’s a very pretty place.
What I’m Watching
- An Update on Our Family. This is a four-part documentary on the Stauffer family, vloggers who adopted a boy from China who they then “re-homed.” Yes, it’s as bad as it sounds. It’s also a larger look at the family vlogging industry, which is starting to face a reckoning as the children of these families turn 18 and start sharing their stories — many of which are horrifying, including one mother who used her daughter’s first period as an opportunity to do sponsored content. One such now adult has said that there is no ethical way to do family vlogging. I agree.
- The Con, season 1. I have seen documentaries about most of these scammers before, but given how much [waves hands] was going on, I just let it roll. And while it may seem silly to watch these, I am writing a Very Important Story for a Banking Magazine about fraud, and a source and I talked about this show! I don’t think learning about ways people try to scam other people is necessarily a bad thing. Also, it’s narrated by Whoopi Goldberg.
- Sanremo Music Festival 2025. This is a five day (yes five!) long competition to pick Italy’s contestant into Eurovision. Why five days? In addition to the hopeful acts, I have seen a six year old play a piano; Duran Duran (who played the festival 40 years ago); two performances by the lead singer of Maneskin, a band that was a previous winner of this and Eurovision; and a presenter in a dress so tight she was late coming onto the stage, and then needed to be helped onto it. It was often silly, often tacky, and very loud. In other words: perfect. I first learned about it through a lesson with my Italian tutor, and got confused when I saw the word “trampolino” in the reading. Do they trampoline, I asked? No, the sentence was that the competition trampolined people to fame. But after watching much of it? I wouldn’t have been surprised if someone came out and bounced on one stage. The finale ended at 2am their time. I’m convinced Italians don’t sleep.
- The Randall Scandal: Love, Loathing and Vanderpump. I don’t watch Bravo shows (though I don’t judge — look at what I watch), so this whole story of Randall Emmett was new to me. Boy, what a piece of shit. Good on his former assistants for speaking out.
Nail Polish of the Week
Let’s Rejoicify by OPI. This sparkly reddish purple is from their Wicked line. I still haven’t watched the movie, but hey this color is great!
Until next time!
Jen A. Miller (she/her)
Notes from a Hired Pen ebook series
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