1-Richard Hooker worked for seven years on his novel, MASH that was rejected by 23 publishers.
2-Louis L'amour received 350 rejections before he made his first sale and then sold 100 western novels with more than 200 miliion copies.
3-Dr. Seuss' first children's book was rejected by 27 publishers. The 28th publisher, Vanguard Press, sold six million copies of the book.
4-Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind was rejected 40 times before selling the first copy. 30 million copies are now in print.
5-John Grisham's first novel, A Time to Kill, was rejected by 15 publishers and 30 agents. More than 60 million copies are now in print.
6-Alex Hailey who wrote Roots received a rejection letter once a week for four years.
7-The movie Star Wars was rejected by every movie studio in Hollywood before 20th-Century Fox produced it. you know the rest!
8-Jack London received 600 rejections slips before he sold his first story.
9-Mary Higgins Clark was rejected 40 times before selling her first story. More than 30 million copies of her books are in print.
10-Mona Risk received 10 rejection letters for To Love A Hero, her first book. Now she has five books published and the next one to be released on June 23, exactly one month and a half after signing the contract with Ellora's Cave Blush (non erotica).
SO HOW MANY REJECTIONS CAN YOU BOAST OF?
According to the legend, the evil Egyptian god of storm, Seth, killed his brother Osiris, chopped him into fourteen pieces and flung them all over Egypt. Isis, goddess of family, reassembled thirteen of his body parts. Since she couldn’t find his supernatural male member where his godly power was stored, she reattached a human one.
Isis has always loved Osiris, the charming god of labor every woman adores. While dreaming of marriage, family and a son, she helps him fight Seth. Together they struggle to survive iniquities and perils.
His trip to the Afterlife has changed Osiris. He’s attracted to Isis and regrets his past womanizing. Guided by oracles she utters when they make love, they search lands and seas until they find his missing organ and he recovers his godly attributes. Osiris has fallen in love with Isis but the sins of his past and their unexpected consequences threaten to separate them more painfully than Seth’s mayhem and curses.
Ancient Egypt, at the dawn of time.
Isis, goddess of health and family, bent over the gilded sarcophagus and laid her cheek upon the lifeless face. “Osiris, my love.” Grief raked her and soft sobs escaped her lips as she stroked his chest with tender caresses.
After a moment of desolation, she exhaled at the futility of her moaning. Desperate words and kisses had never revived a dead body, especially one cut into several pieces. Determined to bring him back to life, she swallowed her wailing and stiffened her back. Adjusting his severed parts close to each other, she pressed them tightly together and sealed the junctions with her tears.
With the greatest care, she pressed her key of life to Osiris’ forehead, swept it over his chest and belly, and tapped his groin a few times while she recited a litany of prayers from the Book of the Dead. “Osiris, god of knowledge and work, I command you, leave the Afterlife.”
The body squirmed against the walls confining him. Clutching her key of life with all her strength, she brushed his lips with a cautious kiss and blew her godly vigor into his mouth. His chest rose and fell.
Joy exploded in Isis’ heart. “Almighty Osiris, you’re alive. Finally.” Her voice resonated like a triumphant hymn.
His eyelids fluttered and he squinted. “Isis,” he muttered in a guttural voice she hardly recognized. “Where…what…?”
Dropping to her knees in the mud and the dewy grass on the bank of the Nile River, Isis watched him anxiously. He patted his neck and torso. His hand skated to his belly, skimmed down to the junction of his thighs and lingered over his shaft. Shock and fear twitched his face. He yanked back his fingers and heaved up his head for a better look at his groin.
“By my ankh-specter and its tau, this isn’t… Where is my…my…?” Osiris’ loud interjection ended in a groan that gnawed at Isis’ heart. It hadn’t taken him long to notice the unfamiliar member. Panic filled his eyes at the absence of his most prized organ and his gaze flitted from his crotch to her face.
A sigh escaped Isis’ quivering lips. Unable to detach her gaze from the area that should have harbored his fabulous shaft and now displayed a human penis, void of supernatural power, she debated how to reveal the tragedy.
“You’re alive and awake.” To reassure him, she caressed his chest with her open palm and leaned forward to rain kisses over his taut flesh. “Still more handsome than any desert knight, my lord. A generous king of the earth that Egyptians revere.”
Her loving gesture elicited another growl of frustration. With a disgusted grunt, Osiris grabbed her hand and lowered it between his thighs. “This is not my glorious member, my pride. Isis, my godly power is missing. What happened?” His voice curt, his tone impatient, Almighty Osiris scrambled to a sitting position in the wooden coffin. “Where is my own penis?” His thunderous voice echoed across the clouded skies. “Answer me, woman.”
If you like to travel and love to read, come and enjoy my international romances. I will take you around the world through stories that simmer with emotion and sizzle with heat.
Rx IN RUSSIAN at Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Prescription-in-Russian-ebook/dp/B004VGU8CE/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1304683753&sr=8-4
BABIES IN THE BARGAIN winner of 2009 Best Romance Novel at Preditors & Editors and winner of 2009 Best Contemporary Romance at Readers Favorite.
Rx FOR TRUST, winner of 2010 Best Contemporary Romance at Readers Favorite and 2011 EPICON
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What a decidedly deliciuos perdictament you've hatched up for your characters and all based on ancient myths. Excellant reading Mona! I can't wait to read this.
Very interesting excerpt. I love books about ancient Egypt and this one has a very intriguing concept. Mona, I can't even guess how many rejections I've had!
My rejections would be in the 100's by now. Of course I started in 1991. Mona, I love the concepts of this book!
I look at every rejection as a way to make my story better. Loved the excerpt and didn't know that Ellora's Cave had a nonerotic line. I can't wait until June 23rd.
Hi Scarlet, Linda, Mary and Pam, Thank you so much for stopping by the blog. I am finally able to access it. My release date is coming unexpectedly and way too early, only a month and a half after I signed the contract!!! But the publisher said they loved the story. It's a fun one.
Lots. Let's leave it at that. I'm proud to say, I too followed these super stars footsteps and didn't give up.
Love your excerpt. I must read this. I must.
Mona,
Thanks for the encouraging pep talk. I had read somewhere about the Star Wars rejection.
Love your new excerpt. This will prove a very interesting and refreshingly different story.
You are a wonderfully talented author who I am in awe of!
Good luck Mona!
I didn't know that Elloras Cave had a non-erotic line either. How cool! looking forward to the release, and I loved the rejections list you shared.
like Pamela said, every rejection is a step closer to publication.
have a great afternoon!
Tamara
Very interesting post, Mona. Beth Trissel received ooodles of rejections from agents and publishers. And now, she's an award winning multipubbed author. :)
Hi Autumn, Josie, Mary, Tamara and Beth, as Beth said it so well we have here award-winning, multipublished authors who stopped caring about rejections and are only counting their good reviews.
This sounds like such a fun story! Every time I see the title it makes me grin.