I Don't Have to Listen to Me

In college, I worked hard and followed the rules by attending classes on time all the time. And my hard work had been rewarded with a degree and a teaching career. In the early 1980s, years before email submissions, I wrote exemplary query letters. But even Pollyanna had her limits. With two unpublished manuscripts collecting dust on the shelf and enough rejection slips to paper the walls of our church sanctuary, Pollyanna had left the building. She was able to smile sweetly and say, you know what? You're right, Skippy. You don't have to listen to me."