A Milestones Met Interview
Please share your exciting news (agent signing, book sale, etc.)!
I recently signed with literary agent Sean McCarthy of Sean McCarthy Literary Agency; I may also have more news (wink, wink) that I can’t quite share yet.
How long have you been writing/pursuing an agent/publishing deal and how has the Courage to Create program/tools served you in reaching this milestone?
I’ve written funny stories and poems ever since I was a kid, but I’d say I “officially” started taking my writing seriously in November of 2019 when I became an SCBWI member and began to put my whole heart into it. I only joined Courage to Create this year–after hearing so many positive things about it from critique group members. Still, even before that, I attended many of the Writing Barn webinars and confabs, and have always been impressed by the supportive atmosphere that Bethany and her teams have nurtured. One thing I particularly love about CtC is the Manifesto—it’s like one of those masterly paintings where you notice something new each time you look at it. Because, of course, the creative journey never ends if we’re doing it right!
When we reach a milestone, it means we may encounter new fears and challenges, as well as joys along the journey. How has being a part of the CTC community prepared you for both enjoying the celebration of a milestone reached and the work that is next to come?
Being agented is still so new to me that I’m not even sure I’ve woken up from the (happy) shock enough to put my thoughts together on this! However, one of the nicest aspects of the CtC community is how warm and engaged it is; it’s a very easy place to connect and make friends—even if you tend to be a nerdy, introverted hermit like me! (All hail Zoom!)
In the Courage to Create, we call on our Big Why as we engage in the ups and downs of the literary life? What’s your BIG WHY and how does it keep you motivated to keep working towards new milestones?
My Big Why is to create “friendly books for loner children.” In my experience as one, books become the default companions for many loner kids, and their relationships with them are profound. I want my books to hold up their end of that relationship and be welcoming, long-term companions. Of course, like all important things, there are also a ton of other reasons I write! You can see those here.
It’s not easy to keep creating courage when it comes to our literary lives. Did you ever encounter a low point or period and did you lean on any of the CTC tools or practices? What did the no/not yets, or near misses/champagne rejections teach you in hindsight not that your YES is here?
Here’s something that may be a hot take, related to the Manifesto’s ambition aspect: I am genuinely glad I submitted so early. That I queried so early. All of that. I’m not saying everyone should do it (at least not on purpose), only that when I hear people say that they are embarrassed at what they sent out at the beginning, yadda yadda, like they are apologizing for having hopes and dreams and ambitions and putting themselves out there before maybe their craft was ready—it honestly makes me sad. Because what’s the bigger mistake—to do that, or to never know? I mean, how else DO you know if your craft is ready? After all, these things are so subjective! What I do know is that, for me, each rejection was a kick in the pants—and sometimes, I was fortunate and got specific advice on what I needed to improve, which definitely helped me level up more quickly than I would have. Now, this way of doing things requires you to be okay with constructive and even negative feedback (which, truthfully—many people aren’t)! But for me, putting my stories out there, time and (after revision) time again kept me going. Gradually the form rejections started turning into “no because,” and then “I love this but,”…and then silence and genuine consideration…and then, eventually, my yes. It’s just the process; IMHO, waiting to start it only prolongs the inevitable. In short, don’t be scared to send your stories out there and see what shakes out—after all, what’s the worst that could happen? You have to write another story? (LOL, the horror!)
As we celebrate your milestone reached, what thoughts can you share with other writers who may doubt they will reach their first or next milestone?
You know, it’s hard to know what will help others most when they are feeling frustrated, but something that’s always stuck with me is Ursula Nordstrom’s famous quip, “I am a former child, and I haven’t forgotten a thing.” Related, if you believe Anders Ericsson’s “10,000-hour rule”—the idea that once you spend 10,000 hours on something, you are an expert—guess what? We were all expert children, many times over! We may be feeling our way through craft, connection, or so many things, but that fact remains: childhood, at least our own, is something we KNOW. We can do this—write the kinds of stories that would have helped us as children—if only we let ourselves truly remember.
What is your favorite Courage to Create Belief?
The only STAMP OF APPROVAL we need is our own.
Elayne Crain writes childish things, following a lifelong passion for children’s literature. She mostly writes humor picture books, though she is also working on two middle-grade novels, a collection of children’s poetry, and other equally laughable things.
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