Breaking The Mold

For those of you who read the dance blog my husband and I write together, you will know we’ve faced the consequences of being a shade different. Maybe not a shade. More like the opposite side of the color wheel. The conflict has caused me to think about my motivations, desires, and goals, which is never a bad thing, dancing or no.

I’ve always been different. Partly this is environmental; I was born (thankfully) into a family that appreciates, inspires, and celebrates the off beat, the odd, the unique, and most importantly, being unashamedly yourself. I fortunately married a man who is very much his own man, and loves that I am my own woman. My tastes, therefore, are not bound by anyone or any institution as to what I “should” like, do, or be.

I also believe I thrive on going against the grain. I enjoy being perceived as different. Creative. Experimental. Weird is a compliment to me, as my friends well know.

There are consequences to this outlook. You can’t expect those in charge of the old guard , if you will, to always appreciate wild flights of fancy. In fact, they may fight you. Change, for most people, is something to avoid, even if the end results may be better. If you are different, your life will never be dull, but neither will it always be smooth.

How does this influence my writing? Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, my writing often does not fall into an easily applied slot. This is especially hard for new writers. Publishers are reluctant enough to back an unknown writer, let alone an unknown writer who is…different.

I write in a wide varieties of styles and subject matters. I mix genres. I have sold to multiple corporations. This has confused some fans. And publishers. For example, my latest novel is a young adult fantasy with adult themes…child abuse, death, and the afterlife.

I probably would have more money in the bank if I stuck to tried and true genre rules and fences. But that wouldn’t be true to me, and ultimately wouldn’t ring true to those who read my books. Do I believe I will eventually have great success? Yes. I believe in me. I believe in my work. Do I get frustrated sometimes? You bet. But I’m not giving up. It may take me longer, but that is the consequences of being sideways in a sometimes straight ahead world.

And oh, the magic I can see when I’m facing the wrong way.

PS. Whenever a rejection letter gets me down I think of one of my favorite authors, Ursula LeGuin. To say that she broke the mold is a huge understatement; it could be argued she was one of the first to successfully blend science fiction and fantasy. Below is a rejection letter her agent received for The Left Hand of Darkness, one of the best sci-fi works with fantasy overtones ever written in my opinion, and is considered by many a timeless classic. She posted the letter (without the name of the editor…she was kind) in hopes that it would console new writers. The letter has indeed helped me out of many a funk. Maybe it will have the same effect on you.

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Dear Miss Kidd,
Ursula K. Le Guin writes extremely well, but I'm sorry to have to say that on the basis of that one highly distinguishing quality alone I cannot make you an offer for the novel. The book is so endlessly complicated by details of reference and information, the interim legends become so much of a nuisance despite their relevance, that the very action of the story seems to be to become hopelessly bogged down and the book, eventually, unreadable. The whole is so dry and airless, so lacking in pace, that whatever drama and excitement the novel might have had is entirely dissipated by what does seem, a great deal of the time, to be extraneous material. My thanks nonetheless for having thought of us. The manuscript of The Left Hand of Darkness is returned herewith. Yours sincerely,
The Editor
21 June, 1968