2020 put us all through a lot. A pandemic. Civil unrest. A Presidential election and many more issues than there are letters in the alphabet. It all boiled over last year. Although, some of the effects of those issues still reside I’m trying to enter into this year with a positive mind. So, I’m doing something I vowed many years ago to never do again. Query agents.

The first time I queried was in the 2010s (don’t true to calculate my age but I’ll talk about that later. Needless to say, I didn’t have a good experience. Rejections bombarded my email like firecrackers on the fourth of July. I even quit writing. The mere presence of Word Doc made me scoff and fill with dread. I was knocked out of the ring by monotonous replies informing me that my story wasn’t what they were looking for. While in my head, I was like tell me what you want and I can’t write that.

It was the not doing that made my overthink and be hypercritical but before I could fall too deep in a stupor of despair a wise woman told me (my mom) that I shouldn’t let someone dictate my talent, what I could do or how far I could go. So, I started back writing and then when I mustered up enough courage I published those stories on a platform called Wattpad.

It was on that little orange app that I honed my craft. Found my literary voice and merged my love for poetry and prose. ( Fun fact: I love alliteration). I created characters I always wanted to see; crafted Black women that didn’t fit the stereotypical role society loves to place upon us but formed fully-functioning individuals trying to figure out their lives, loves, and careers while expressing a gambit of adjectives other than the usual strong or angry.

I finally found my niche and realized a hard truth; I wasn’t ready for an agent or a publishing deal back then. But now, now it’s my time. I’m ready. Look out world, here comes your next favorite author.

What’s your mindset for 2021?