Hello and welcome to the blog. Last time I answered several questions so you could better get to know me both as a person and as a writer. In today’s post I would like to focus on a central topic. If you have a topic or a question you would like for me to cover, feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email. The topic for today is one that will have every writer reading this cringe. Rejection.

Why have I chosen such a depressing topic for the blog today? It’s simple. Every writer has faced rejection at one point or another. However, rejection isn’t simply for those of us who weave stories out of words on a page. It’s more universal than that, as I’m sure you know. Perhaps you were passed over for a dream job after feeling you nailed the interview. Or that girl you really liked turned you down after you worked up the courage to ask her out. No matter your background or your chosen career, there’s a good chance at some point along this road we call life that you’ve been rejected in some fashion. My personal stories of rejection happen to deal mostly with my life as a writer. Hopefully, you can relate.

Let’s start off with a simple definition of the word itself. Merriam-Webster defines rejection as the state of being rejected. This forces us to look at the definition for rejected, which is not given approval or acceptance. Simple and straightforward. Blunt and harsh. I think most of you would agree that we want and seek approval and acceptance from others, such is the way of the human spirit. To be denied that simple act can be crushing.

When I started submitting short stories to magazines at the age of nineteen, I didn’t know what to expect. I was young and thought I had a little bit of talent. The plan was to build my publishing credits in magazines for a few years, then have my first novel published by the time I was twenty-five. While I did write a novel by twenty-five, not much else went according to plan.

I wrote four or five short stories during my first venture into trying to get published. Most of those stories were rejected, though one was published by a dying literary magazine. By the time that story was accepted for publication I had already received several rejections on the other stories. All those noes made that one yes that much more satisfying. After receiving that yes, I thought this might not be so hard. I was wrong.

Over the course of the next eight years I went without hearing that coveted word we all crave to hear. Form rejection letters piled up, so to speak since most were in email form. My confidence waned. During those years I wrote two novels, which my eyes have only seen. Why didn’t I share those novels with the world? Or submit them to literary agents? Eight years of hearing that you’re not good enough can influence a person. In my case it wasn’t a good one.

My mind was a pool of self-doubt in which I found myself drowning. When I received an email from a magazine editor, I had to brace myself for the letdown I was about to receive. I came to think that maybe those editors were right. If my short stories weren’t any good, how could one of my novels be any better? So, I kept them to myself.

Those two novels are more than five years old now. I have gone back and reread a few pages of each. The sight of them brought a smile to my face. Oh, they weren’t good, in fact both were quite the opposite. However, the writing I was doing at the time I reread those stories was better by a wide margin. I realized those first novels were a writer struggling to find his own voice instead of copying his heroes.

I hadn’t realized while it was happening, but over the years my writing had gotten better. How had this happened? Looking back, I think there are three reasons. Remember those rejections I received over those eight long years without a publication? A couple of those came with comments about my writing. It took time, but eventually I learned those editors were right in their critique. The second reason I will dub self-awareness. No one is perfect, we all have faults. As a writer I knew what I did well and where I struggled, and I constantly worked on honing both. The third reason I alluded to above, I had found my voice. I no longer sounded like a cheap imitation of a famous writer, but a unique version of myself. It’s probably not a voice that will make me famous, but it’s mine.

If you read any of this post, I hope it’s this paragraph. This is the part where I get real. I have written a lot of short stories in my life. I have written six novels, plus two that are in the works. For those wondering, I have gotten over my fear of rejection and have submitted two of those to agents in the past. The point is I don’t count the number of times I’m rejected, but the number of times I’m published. In other words, I count the number of times I have succeeded, not the number of times I failed. For the record, I have published five short stories in magazines, one self-published short story, and soon to be one self-published novel. Those are my successes. That’s all that matters.

If you have a topic you would like me to cover, feel free to leave a comment below or shoot me an email. Like this page if moved to do so. Follow me on twitter @StephenRoth316.

Always follow your dreams, no matter how much they terrify you. Thanks for reading.

Stephen Michael Roth

I’ve got questions and answers. Who’s asking the questions? Me. Who’s answering the questions? Also, Me.

Hello and welcome! I thought I would kick the blog off by answering questions so you can better get to know me as a person and as a writer. I will pose the questions myself, though if you have a question you would like answered feel free to drop me an email at sroth2006@yahoo.com. These questions come from a variety of sources. Some have been asked of me in a rather blunt manner by former family members, some every writer is asked at some point in their career, and others I have simply made up.

Let’s get started.

Who are you and what do you do?

Right, introductions first. My name is Stephen Roth and I’m a writer. A middle grade writer to be more precise. Most of my writing falls into the dark, macabre world of horror, though I do stray from time to time in order to test my abilities and showoff my skills a bit (a side note: if you want an example of exactly this, look for my upcoming short story collection where one story focuses on a taboo subject).

I was born, raised, and live in Wichita, Kansas. Most of my stories tend to take place in the Land of Oz for this reason. It’s what I know best. My wife, Belinda, is an ESOL teacher at an elementary school. She has been the breadwinner and my main supporter while I travel this long road as a writer. I have been on the receiving end of her selfless nature and positive attitude enough times to be embarrassed. We have three daughters, all filled to the eyebrows with sass. They make life interesting. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Why do you write?

Ah, this question is simple, isn’t it? The answer is simple as well, yet with a complexness at the same time. Allow me to explain. I write because I must. That’s the simple part. Now, explaining why I must write is were things get a little complex.

I fell in love with books as a kid reading R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps. Those books are the reason I write in the middle grade horror genre today. At some point I started writing my own stories. Those first stories were a boy imitating his hero. As I grew, I developed my own style and voice, which is very different from my childhood hero. The journey to get there holds the answer to this self-posed question.

Since I started writing many years ago, it has always been a compulsion which I couldn’t resist. The more I do it, the more I need it. It’s like an itch I need to scratch. If I don’t scratch that itch, which resides in the depths of my brain, I go crazy. Sure, I can take time off. After finishing a novel, I take a week off to breath from the relentless pace. By the end of the week my brain is calling me back to the computer. Create or die, it says in dramatic fashion. So, I create.

I write because I must.

Yeah, but why horror?

I’ve been lucky enough not to have been asked this question in real life, for which I am grateful. I pose it here because I know other writers haven’t been so lucky.

Like I said earlier, I fell in love with books while reading R.L. Stine. Later, I progressed to Stephen King. I’ve always enjoyed a good scare whether it’s through fiction or cinema. Those two writers, and many others along the way, had a way of evoking emotion within me. That’s what good fiction should do. Evoke emotion in the reader, plain and simple. If your reader doesn’t feel for your characters and your story, then why bother? Scaring people just happens to be my favorite way of evoking emotions.

You’re still doing that?

Unlike the previous question, I was asked this question personally. Some context is needed to understand the question and the answer. Several years ago, I decided to leave my job in order to focus on writing. I would watch a friend’s foster children during the day and write during naps and evenings. For the first time in my life I would be able to give writing the time it deserved.

My last week on the job before I left to focus on writing, I ran into my former brother in-law. Upon learning that I was leaving my job to focus on what he thought of as a hobby, he posed this question to me. Knowing he wouldn’t understand if I took the time to explain my reasoning, I simply smiled and nodded. Years later, I finally have a response. He may not understand it, but at least I have a response. This is that response.

Have you ever wanted something so bad in your heart and in your soul that you couldn’t stomach the thought of it not happening? Being a fulltime writer is that way for me. It’s been a dream for as long as I can remember. Who am I if not a writer? It’s engrained in my soul, just like being a husband and a father. It’s part of who I am. It’s the reason after fifteen years of hearing no from the publishing world I decided to take matters into my own hands.

So, yeah, I’m still doing that. Whether I’m read or not, represented by an agent or not, have a book deal or not, critically acclaimed or widely panned, it matters not. For as long as there is a breath in my body words will flow from my fingers.

Where do you get your ideas?

This is every writer’s favorite question. It’s the question we are asked more often than any other. The truth? We don’t really know. Some ideas are inspired by books that we have read. Another might be inspired by an interaction with a fellow member of humanity. While others simply appear in our heads out of nowhere. In my experience the latter seem to make for the best stories. This is just a writer trying to explain the unexplainable. I could be wrong. It wouldn’t the first time.

What’s to come?

As far as this website goes, I plan on doing a blog from time to time. I’m afraid I can’t give any specifics on the timing of those, though I hope it’s weekly. Stay tuned to find out.

As far as my writing goes, there are several things forthcoming. I just finished writing several short stories for a collection, which I mentioned earlier. As of this writing it’s untitled. Next up is a final review of my finished novel, Breaking Character, before self-publishing. It may not have netted an agent, but I’m proud of it. Once Breaking Character has hit the publishing world, I will turn my attention to reading, editing and rewriting another novel, tentatively titled the Stranger. Eventually, I will start writing the second book in the Breaking Character Series.

Always follow your dreams, no matter how much they terrify you. Thanks for reading.

Stephen Michael Roth