My second novel The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea was released last week. I've lost count of how long it took me to write, but I'm guessing something like six years. During that time, I threw the book in the too-hard basket at least twice, deciding historical fiction was wayyy too difficult. On finally finishing the book, I was inundated with rejection letters- the worst coming from an agent who, after reading the whole manuscript said "we all sat around the table discussing whether or not to take your book on. After careful debate, we've decided not to." Seriously... I understand this was supposed to be encouraging, but for me it was gutting to get so close and get turned down at this point.
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