Rejection is a part of life - not just writing. That sounds quite profound from me on a Monday afternoon, but there's some truth in there.

How many times in life (especially when you were young) when you fancied a girl or a boy - or these days possibly both and neither at the same time and been knocked back - Yes Sarah Ainsworth I'm talking about you!!

 It knocks your confidence for a while but eventually you dust yourself down and get back out there.Or, alternatively, retire to a dusty cottage, collect cats and toby jugs and become eccentric.

I also remember the times I'd performed incredibly well at a job interview only not to get asked back!! - That happened only last year, sometimes you'll never know why, perhaps unconscious bias in the interviewer or reviewer in the case of a book, or some other subtle nuance is at work and you'll maybe never find out what it was that turned them off. Just make sure it;s not your after-shave/perfume or these days both or neither.

I forced myself (this weekend to finish a book) I won't name it - but it's sold over 2 million copies - it was awful. I only read it to the end to see if there was something I was missing. This is the second time this had happened to me in the last month - two monster books with hundreds of 5 star reviews but in my opinion YUCK with a capital Y.

But, I realize that many people loved it - so I have to accept that this 450 page tome of spelling mistakes, dubious grammar and a story line full of inconsistencies and terrible dialogue was seen as brilliant by both a major publishing house and millions of readers.

It fills me with both hope and despair at the same time, but also inspires me to carry on in it;s own way as surely I can do better than that!!

So far, my rejection list across two attempts is somewhere north of 52, If I hit 100 hundred I'll probably go and do something else....My life is pretty good overall so I can't complain too much, there are many worse off than me.