I’m reupping my interview with CBS Saturday Morning, which aired in November. That’s for two reasons. One, it features my thriller Shadowheart, which will be published in just a few days. And two, because Jeff Glor and I talk about perseverance. About writing—the road to publication, and the rejection that inevitably comes along that path, and sticking with it.
I got knocked down a bunch of times before writing a publishable novel. And after writing one. And after writing five. It stung. At times I thought of packing it all in. But—maybe because I’m stubborn as hell—I tried again.
Thanks to work, and luck, and serendipity (Praise be, Stephen King), opportunity came my way. And when it knocked on the door, I was ready to answer. I had a new book in the works.
After Heat 2 topped the New York Times best seller list, I posted elsewhere about the long road I’ve traveled with writing, and how through craft, passion, persistence, and good luck, sometimes—just sometimes, no promises—big exciting things can happen. It’s possible. Don’t give up. Most replies appreciated the encouragement, but one sourpuss went off on me. They said I was selling bullshit. To stop offering hope to people, because nobody’s going to succeed.
Oof.
There’s hope. I offer it.
In my novel Ransom River, heroine Rory Mackenzie has a motto: Fall seven times, get up eight. That’s my motto too.
So let me repeat what I said that got the sourpuss riled up: All my life I’ve wanted to write. Somehow, some way. So I wrote at night while teaching. I wrote while my babies napped. I wrote on planes, trains, and in cars. I wrote more than a dozen novels. And in August 2022 the book I co-authored with Michael Mann, Heat 2, debuted at #1 on the NYT best seller list.
Never give up.
This morning I saw an interview with Katie Ledecky. She said: “Don’t be afraid to set really big goals for yourself.”
Amen, sister. A goal isn’t a guarantee. But challenging yourself can be thrilling. Dream, and learn, and work. Hard. And lovingly. And with passion. Doing your best, rising to the challenge of fulfilling your creativity, does your heart good.
SHADOWHEART is out June 18. Preorder: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple Books | bookshop.org
lying for a living 