Hey Catherine, actually, I think you CAN write oranges, you just have to keep standing by that orange tree. Eventually it’ll happen. I’ve been standing there a while and to be honest with you, I’m getting a little sick of it. I’m wondering if I actually WANT to write oranges anyway. Then again, with all the other trees around, I don’t have to stick beside one. I can write whatever I want. Someone, somewhere will want it and meanwhile, that’ll distract me from waiting for the wretched orange tree. 🙂

Eeeek, Heidi! Am VERY flattered and extremely nervous! 🙂 Hope you like it!! *bites nails*
Well, that orange tree has been great but yeah, am wondering if it’s quite for me. It’s certainly not getting any easier to climb…
But still, I’m with you, it’s a very exciting time for writers. And I’m really, really happy with where I am at the moment.
Lol re the orange tree coming calling!! I’d like to see that day… 😉

OK, now that’s done. You’re so right about the oranges and apples (although I think there really should have been some bananas in there – just as an appropriate visual aid you understand!). At the end of the day the goal is to get published, to get your books out there to people who will read them and love them and to do that you HAVE to find a publisher that loves what you write. You can tweak and stretch yourself and change a few things but if the Orange tree is trying to push you to write something that doesn’t work for you it won’t work for your readers either.

And personally, I think it’s really exciting that there’s a whole orchard out there now and not just a few trees, providing so many more opportunities for writers to find that perfect fit. So we’re not all trying to write oranges – when apples and pears (and bananas) taste just as good.

And once you’re a fabulous success of course the orange tree may come calling and say – ‘how about we plant an apple tree just so it can bear fruit like you?’ – Just sayin’

Heidi x

I don’t know, Marcie. Perhaps it’s what we hear from other people, or just what we perceive ourselves. But my experience of apples and peaches has been fantastic and it’s getting to the stage where I’m thinking I might give up oranges altogether. Not because I don’t like them but because there are other, bigger trees out there. 😉

Awww, hugs on the R! And yeah, I know what you mean re it being the best rejection ever. I’ve had a few of those. 🙂 I would definitely take the comments, see if you agree with them, rework the ms then send out again. Send it everywhere. And make sure you keep going. Keep writing. It’s the only way.

The world is a big place. Someone WILL want cherries. And they’ll be damn annoyed that they can’t find any. Because some idiot keeps telling them want oranges and apples and peaches! 😉
However, if you LOVE oranges and don’t want anything else, by all means, keep with the oranges. Don’t ever give up reaching for them and eventually you’ll get there.
Just don’t let your love of writing and the pleasure you take in creating stories get hemmed in. Because I know what it’s like to feel that way and it’s the pits.

Anyway, your soil is perfectly fine. Don’t prune your trees just because someone else says they look untidy. 😉

Hmmm…perhaps I should have chosen another metaphor…