New! Monthly Column Debbi is the owner of Mack Research and Writing, providing articles, reports, case studies, white papers and otherwise assisting businesses and organizations with communications needs. She has also done research for legal and reference publishers and attorneys. A select list of clients and writing samples are available here. Debbi is also a mystery author, whose published work includes a novel, Identity Crisis, a hardboiled mystery featuring lawyer/sleuth Stephanie Ann "Sam" McRae, and a short story in Chesapeake Crimes I, an anthology written and edited by members of the Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime. Submitted for Your Consideration February 2008 Beyond the Bend Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald's, once said, "Press on. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence." I couldn't agree more. Persistence is an essential quality for any entrepreneur, especially those who are doing creative or cutting-edge work. Biotech startups, inventors, artists, musicians and, yes, writers know that they'll never succeed if they allow failure and disappointment to stop them. I speak from experience when I say that if it weren't for sheer bullheaded persistence, I would've washed out of the fiction writing business ages ago. It was the early 1990s when I began putting serious effort toward writing fiction. I finished my first mystery novel in 1997. I sent letters out to as many agents as I could and got a few nibbles, but no contract. I kept this up for a while, then decided to write a second novel with the same protagonist. I went through an even more extensive round of agent queries and rejections with this novel. Finally, I decided to submit it directly to small presses. My first submission was to a small press that had agreed to publish an anthology called Chesapeake Crimes, to which I had contributed a short story -- my first published fiction. I submitted the manuscript to this publisher and a few months later, was offered a contract. By now it was 2003 and I was ecstatic at having landed a publisher after so many years of rejections. But before I could even savor the feeling of sweet success that comes with a first novel's release, something terrible happened. I had a stroke. I was extremely fortunate to be treated quickly, so my recovery from total paralysis on the left side took place within hours. I was walking the next day and speaking with no problem. No one but the most observant person could even tell I'd had a stroke. Then things got worse. A few months after the stroke, my left hand and foot began clenching constantly -- so badly, the contortions in my hand and arm became painful. It turned out the stroke had caused a condition called dystonia -- the third most common movement disorder after Parkinson's and tremors. Oh and, by the way, it has no cure. In short, I have been through numerous treatments, including Botox injections, physical therapy, acupuncture, cranio-sacral therapy and neurofeedback. None of them has provided complete or lasting relief. The accepted medical treatment -- injections of botulinum toxin to the affected areas, including wonderful spots like the bottom of my foot -- has produced minimal relief. However, during the period when it's most effective, it tends to cause muscle weakness to the point where I'm unable to lift certain fingers or grip things in the affected hand. Oh and, by the way, you can only get these shots once every three months or you'll develop an immunity to the toxin. In fact, my first round of shots provided no relief. And I had to wait three months to see if the next round would do better. It took three treatments before I really noticed anything and the relief was minor and short-lived. That's six months of waiting for minimal results with minor adverse effects. After that, I asked for a higher dosage, hoping to get better results that lasted longer. Bad call! The higher dose intensified the adverse effects, to the point where I couldn't make a fist or lift my ring finger. And you'd be surprised at how much a limp ring finger will mess you up! As I struggled with this, my first novel, Identity Crisis, was published in the summer of 2005, to the acclaim of many -- many relatives, friends and acquaintances, that is. The rest of the world remained blissfully unaware of it. My small publisher was without the money or inclination to promote the book, other than to make it available for sale through Amazon and other online booksellers. The rest was up to me. So I hired a book promoter, did some interviews and signings, got a handful of good reviews and tried every way I could to get the word out about my book. Then things got even worse. Around the time my first royalties were due, my publisher had some kind of crisis and stopped paying his authors. They tried to reach the owner, but didn't get a response until long after their trust in him was irreparably damaged. Ultimately, the vast majority of the authors -- myself included -- cut their contractual ties with the publisher. It was a difficult decision for me, but an inevitable one, under the circumstances. So now it was early 2006. My first novel had gone out of print, less than a year after its release. I still had no agent. I was looking for a new publisher. And I was battling an incurable disorder that caused constant clenching in my hand and foot and sometimes excruciating pain in my hand. I've been told life is a journey, but I wasn't expecting the March to Bataan! Still, I haven't given up. Like I said, if it weren't for persistence, I'd forget about fiction writing. Despite all the bad stuff, I keep hoping that somewhere beyond a bend in life's road, I'll find something good. A new publisher. A better dystonia treatment. A cure. Somebody once said, "When the world says 'give up,' hope whispers 'try one more time.'" So, whatever your goal and whatever the obstacle, just try one more time. And keep trying. Because you never know what lies beyond the bend. January 2008: Green Thoughts December 2007: What Goes Around Comes Around November 2007: Bitten by the Bug