Each Sunday, I try to share something that made me grateful in the past week. I almost didn’t have a post today, but something came to me at the last minute.
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Earlier this morning, I attended an ACB Community program on Zoom called The Breakfast Bunch. Here, an icebreaker question is asked to foster discussion. Today’s question was: What bit of wisdom were you given that stayed with you through the years?
Looking back, I remember advice an author friend gave me years ago, and it doesn’t apply just to writing. It’s important to develop a thick skin. As an author, your work will no doubt be rejected many times before it’s finally published. You may receive negative reviews of your books and harsh criticism. A friend may suggest you do something, having the best of intentions, but it may come across as hurtful. Any of this could make you want to give up.
However, you can take rejections of your writing in stride and keep submitting. You can think about what’s said and apply it, or you can take it with a grain of salt. Whatever you do, put it behind you, and move forward. If you crawl into a proverbial hole, you’re only hurting yourself.
Last year, I lost sight of this advice after an unfortunate incident. It has otherwise stayed with me, and in the future, I’ll do my best to live by it and impart it to others as needed, though it may not be easy. I’ll always be grateful for this bit of writerly and life wisdom.
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Did someone ever give you advice that has stayed with you through the years? What made you thankful this past week? You can answer one or both of these questions in the comments or on your blog with a link to this post. Thank you for reading.
Photo Courtesy of Tess Anderson Photography
Photo Resize and Description
by Two Pentacles Publishing
New! Living Vicariously in Wyoming: Stories
Copyright 2025 by Abbie Johnson Taylor
Published independently with the help of DLD Books.
Image Description written by Leonore Dvorkin of DLD Books.
As defined in the first story, living vicariously means living your life through someone else’s. You’re invited to live vicariously through the lives of the people in these stories. There’s the lawyer who catches his wife in the act with a nun. A college student identifies with a character in a play. A young woman loses her mother and finds her father. And a high school student’s prudish English teacher strenuously objects to a single word in her paper.
In Wyoming, as in any other state, people fall in love, and sometimes relationships are shattered. Accidents, domestic violence, prejudice, and crimes all occur. Lives are torn apart, and people are reunited. Ordinary people deal with everyday and not–so–everyday situations.
The 25 stories in this collection, most of which are set in Wyoming, are about how the various characters resolve their conflicts—or not.
Click here for more information and ordering links.
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