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You are here: Home / Archives for #rejection

#rejection

RUPTURE – A Short Story in Five Scenes

July 9, 2021 By Elaine Ambrose

1.

Julia was ten years old when her mother smacked her over the head with a tube of Pillsbury refrigerator biscuits. The can ruptured and eight Southern Homestyle clumps of molded dough wiggled from her brown hair onto the floor.

“Aha!” exclaimed her mother as she picked up the dough and arranged the raw biscuits on a cookie sheet. “That’s how you open these pesky cans.”

Helen had followed directions on the package, removed the label, and pressed the appropriate line with a spoon. Nothing happened. She twisted, pulled, added colorful language, and slammed the cardboard roll onto the counter. The stubborn tube refused to break.

With incredible bad timing, Julia happened to run into the kitchen and demand something to eat. That’s when her resourceful mother decided Julia’s head presented the perfect solution to the family’s dinnertime dilemma.

“Ouch!” yelled Julia, rubbing her head. “Why did you do that?”

“So you’ll have something to eat,” her mother responded as she slid the pan into the oven. “Dinner will be ready soon.”

Helen glanced in the mirror to straighten her skirt and smooth her frizzy blonde hair.

Julia made a mental note never again to demand food, especially from her mother. She knew none of her friends had mothers who would smack them in the head with a can of dough. They were lucky.

2. 

Dinner commenced when her dad Hank, a big man with gnarled hands, and her two older brothers James and Teddy, skinny boys with shaggy brown hair and freckles, tumbled into the kitchen after working all day on the farm. After a quick wash in the kitchen sink, they sat down as Julia’s mother scurried to bring a platter of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, a bowl of green bean casserole, and a basket of biscuits with butter.

“These biscuits aren’t homemade,” mumbled Hank, washing down the warm bread with a large glass of milk.

“Didn’t have time to bake from scratch today,” Helen said, trying not to sound defensive. “The hose in the garden ruptured and almost ruined my carrots. I had to repair the hose and replant some vegetables.”

Hank grunted, so James and Teddy grunted, too. Julia watched in silence as the family finished the meal, all of them sopping the potatoes with the biscuits. Her head still hurt.

After dinner, Helen and Julia remained in the kitchen to wash the dishes while her father and brothers retired to sit outside on the porch. Julia could see a dim red glow as her father took a drag on his cigarette, followed by the usual coughing and spitting.

“Why does he still smoke?” Julia asked, stacking a dish in the drainer.

“He’ll cut back once the harvest is finished,” Helen replied. “You know it’s a stressful time.”

“I’m having a stressful time, and I don’t smoke,” Julia said. “I’d rather kick something or holler outside. Maybe I could smack someone with a can of biscuits.”

Julia glanced to her side and noticed her mother biting her lip.

“Someday you’ll be blessed with a family, and you’ll understand,” Helen said with a tone of voice more weary than usual. “I’m sorry about your head. But it came in handy.”

They both laughed and finished the dishes.

3.

The next morning, Hank pounded on Julia’s bedroom door. “Get up,” he called. “We need your help today to finish the potato harvest.”

Julia pulled on her work clothes and boots and joined the family in the kitchen. Breakfast was simple: hotcakes and bacon. In the hurry to go to work, James knocked the plastic syrup bottle onto the floor, and Teddy accidentally stopped on it. The bottle ruptured and a gooey mess spread across the room.

“Out!” ordered Helen as she reached for towels to clean the syrup. Julia followed her father and brothers outside to the pickup truck. She glanced back at her mother on her knees wiping the floor. Julia decided she might not want to be blessed with a family.

4.

They worked all day bringing in the last load of potatoes from the back 40 acres. Julia stood on the harvester pulling out weeds while James drove the truck. Her dad and Teddy rode beside the truck to collect the potatoes as they tumbled over the conveyor belt. Twilight cast long shadows over the cellar as Hank shoveled the final pile of dirty potatoes.

Suddenly Hank stopped, clutched his chest, and dropped to the ground. His three children screamed at him to get up, but he wouldn’t move. James ran to the house for his mother. She quickly called for an ambulance and ran to the field with water and a blanket.

Teddy sat on the ground, clutching his knees and rocking. Julia held her father’s large, weathered hand and watched as his chest heaved in spasms until it stopped moving. A deep sigh came from his mouth, and he was gone. She let go of his hand when the paramedics wheeled him away to the ambulance.

“He suffered a ruptured abdominal aneurysm,” the doctor explained later at the hospital. “At least he went quickly. A rupture of this type is common among smokers.”

Helen and her children drove home in silence. Friends and other family members arrived and filled the house with tearful stories, mugs of coffee, and plates of pie. Julia escaped to her room and opened her journal.

“My dad died,” she wrote. “I don’t know how to feel. I hope I remember the sound of his voice.”

5.

A few years later, James left for trade school and Teddy joined the Army. Helen sold the farm and moved into town to work at the library. After graduating from high school, Julia worked for a local veterinarian and saved money to buy a used car. It was a blue Toyota with one red door.

Her mother was sitting on the porch when Julia drove up in the car.

“You’re leaving, aren’t you?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“You’re breaking my heart,” Helen said. “I feel like life has ruptured me into shattered pieces that can’t be mended.”

Julia sat beside her mother. She could stay, but there was no future in the small farming community. In the distance, a mourning dove cooed a simple solo.

“I’ll always carry your strength and goodness,” Julia said. “But I want and need a chance to see what is beyond this place, and I want to go where the road takes me.”

Julia noticed her mother’s hair had become gray and brittle, her hands rippled with veins, and her eyes were tired. Julia’s heart softened.

“Give me your blessing, Mama.”

Helen patted her daughter’s hand. “Go tomorrow,” she said. “You have my blessing, but don’t forget me.”

The next morning, Julia backed the Toyota out of the driveway. Helen stood at the door and waved until the car was out of view. She whispered, “I want to go with you.” Julia didn’t hear her mother’s plea as she turned up the music on the car radio and accelerated toward the freeway.

 

©Elaine Ambrose

(Rejected submission for The Cabin’s anthology, Rupture: Writers in the Attic.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: #amwriting, #Cabin Literary Center, #rejection, #short story, anthology, storyteller

Writer’s Workshop Explains How to Go from Loser to Leader

September 26, 2019 By Elaine Ambrose


The Writing Workshop for Losers on October 4-5 will be the 16th writing retreat I’ve organized and hosted. The first writing retreat occurred at my cabin in Garden Valley, Idaho in 2008 and was called “Write by the River.” My guest speaker was Jennifer Basye Sander, a New York Times bestselling author and book packager.

Jennifer Basye Sander returns from Sacramento, California to speak at the October workshop. She’ll lead participants through various exercises to address their biggest fears, share their painful failures, and list their bravest actions throughout their writing careers. Using her personal motto of “Fail Fast, Fail Often,” Jennifer will show writers how to learn from and destroy their rejections and become part of a Rejection Club. She believes that the only real way to fail at writing is to stop writing.

Jennifer teaches three writing courses a year for the Arts and Humanities department at University of California Davis. The books she has developed have achieved in excess of forty million dollars in retail sales. As the senior editor for Prima Books (a now defunct division of Random House) she developed more than seventy new titles. A recognized expert on Ernest Hemingway, one of Jennifer’s most popular speeches is titled, “Could Hemingway Get a Book Deal Today?”

Donna Beckman Tagliaferri and Elaine Ambrose

After Jennifer’s session, Donna Beckman Tagliaferri will share her workshop about overcoming self-doubt and explore how to survive personal catastrophe. She writes a popular blog titled My Life from the Bleachers and is the voice of compassion and reason in a vitriolic world of social media. She writes about having great expectations and what to do when hopes and dreams don’t occur or turn out differently. She’ll discuss how we use our challenges, trails, and tests to help and encourage each other and do our most creative work. Her workshop will focus on finding the sunflowers because they face the sun but on cloudy days, they turn toward each other to share energy. Donna is the ghost writer for a famous personality, and she’ll discuss how to respond with others are recognized for her talent.

The workshop will end with my “Music as Muse” exercise designed to prompt positive creative energy.

The Saloon at Spurwing. Photo by David Day.

This will be the first writing workshop at the Saloon at Spurwing. Previous workshops in Garden Valley, Eagle, Meridian, and Sun Valley have featured dynamic speakers, including Pulitzer Prize Winner Anthony Doerr, Alan Heathcock, Amanda AK Turner, Liza Long, Gretchen Anderson, Ken Rodgers, Doug Copsey, Christy Hovey, Emily Nielsen, Drew Allen Brown, Lance Olsen, Stacy Dymalski, and Stephanie Worrell.

Anthony Doerr and Alan Heathcock speak at the Write by the River retreat.
Speakers Christy Hovey, Amanda AK Turner, and Elaine Ambrose
Writer’s Wellness Retreat


Writers at the 2017 workshop at Spurwing.

Participants for the October writing workshop are coming from Arkansas, California, Nevada, and Idaho. We have two places open, and tickets can be purchased here.

Filed Under: blog, events Tagged With: #amwriting, #rejection, Idaho, Jennifer Basye Sander, writers workshop

Writing Workshop for Losers

August 14, 2019 By Elaine Ambrose

Writing Workshop for Losers
(Who Can Become Winners)

Do you feel like a failure? You’re not alone. Hundreds of writers have received caustic rejection letters, nasty reviews, and public insults, and some of those came from their family members. However, many people overcome the disappointment to achieve recognition and gather rewards for their talents.

CLICK HERE FOR REGISTRATION.

Losers who want to become winners are invited to attend a productive, empowering workshop on October 4-5, 2019, facilitated by bestselling author Elaine Ambrose in the Saloon near Spurwing in Meridian, Idaho. Through interactive sessions with professional survivors of rejection, participants will discover how to cope with failure and change negative energy into optimistic achievement The cost is only $125, and the agenda includes a Friday night informal reception with area writers, all Saturday sessions, all materials, lunch, snacks, and assignments. The address to the Saloon will be emailed after entrance fee is paid. This workshop is open to beginning and intermediate writers. Space is limited. No refunds after October 1.

The Saloon at Spurwing. Photo by David Day

Friday, October 4
An informal evening reception will include area writers and members of the Idaho Writers Guild.

Saturday, October 5 – Speakers and Workshop Facilitators

Jennifer Basye Sander

New York Times bestselling author, book packager of more than 50 titles, and literary talent Jennifer Basye Sander will describe how her failures led to magnificent success stories. As an acquisitions editor, Jennifer turned down the first book proposal for the Chicken Soup for the Soul books. Subsequently, the series sold more than 500 million books. Using creative exercises, Jennifer will lead participants through a cathartic bonfire to purge past failures and emerge energized for future accomplishments. Participants will perform a rejection ritual and toss their fears and rejections into the firepit while imagining the creation of a better, tastier chicken soup for their souls. Jennifer is a former editor for Random House and teaches at the UC Davis Creative Writing Program. She lives in Sacramento, California. View her author page here.

Donna Beckman Tagliaferri
Donna Beckman Tagliaferri writes a popular blog titled My Life from the Bleachers and is the voice of compassion and reason in a vitriolic world of social media. She writes about having great expectations and what to do when hopes and dreams don’t occur or turn out differently. She’ll discuss how we use our challenges, trails, and tests to help and encourage each other and do our most creative work. Her workshop will focus on finding the sunflowers because they face the sun but on cloudy days, they turn toward each other to share energy. Donna lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. Click here to find her online blog.

Elaine Ambrose
Elaine Ambrose’s recent bestselling memoir Frozen Dinners describes how she survived a challenging childhood and became a humor writer. To conclude the retreat, she will provide a “Music as Muse” exercise so writers can focus on their negative emotions to produce positive feelings. Follow Elaine on her website.

CLICK HERE FOR REGISTRATION.

Presented by

The Saloon at Spurwing. Photo by David Day.

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: #Idaho, #Jennifer Bayse Sander, #rejection, #writing, #writing community, #writing retreat

Midlife Cabernet: A Reflection on Rejection

April 21, 2014 By Elaine Ambrose

I will never submit entries to the Boise Weekly Fiction 101 contest. J.K. Rowling and Stephen King won’t, either.

Personal coaches and self-help advocates often encourage people to take risks so they can face their fears, calm their critics, and win the adoration of friends and associates. That works – unless you’re a writer. Then the smallest rejection letter can cause a wave of insecurity so powerful that you’re tempted to tie your computer to your legs and jump into the nearest river of despair. Your fear of rejection becomes a bigger fear that no one will care. Ever.

Well, that might be a bit dramatic. But those who scatter words into sentences that evolve into paragraphs want readers to share the same passion that inspires writers to write. An author can devote years of arduous work to produce a manuscript that only languishes at the bottom of a slush pile. Then the form rejection letter arrives. Your talent is not good enough. Baby, you’re no good. (Sing along.)

My first national publication came fifty years ago when I was in elementary school. I’ve been fortunate to use my writing skills in career opportunities that included corporate communications, publishing, and writing for television, newspapers, and magazines. Every story, every news release, every report was an assignment written on a deadline, packaged, and presented for someone, everyone, to read. In return, I received a paycheck for validation and sometimes a writing award. Then I wrote books, and I held them like babies.

My rambling today was prompted by two recent rejections. I wrote a charming short story for a collection that celebrated Boise’s 150th anniversary. My story titled “The Gregarious Ghost of the Greenbelt” featured a sassy ghost that lived under the bridge on Capitol Blvd. I loved the story. The judges did not. My second rejection came from the Boise Weekly 101 Fiction Contest. I submitted two stories I thought were creative, clever, and mimicked the quirky samples of previous winners. Again, as in previous years, my stories weren’t chosen. But some of my friends won. That fact presents an entire new set of insecurities. They must be better writers. They know I lost. Will we still be friends?

Writers can find comfort by knowing about famous authors who also faced numerous rejections. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell was rejected 38 times before it was published. One of my favorite children’s books, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, was rejected 26 times. Beatrix Potter received so many denial letters that she successfully self-published The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Other rejected writers include Stephen King, Rudyard Kipling, J.K. Rowling, George Orwell, Agatha Christie, Louisa May Alcott, and William Faulkner. I am not in the same league with the talent of those famous authors, but I can honestly say we share something in common: rejection. Then we get up again and write more stories.

Today’s blog was fueled by a 1998 Cattiglone Falleto Terre del Barolo. If you can find this wine, buy it and drink it. It’s only $17 – but one sip will send you to a quaint sidewalk café outside Florence, Italy where you’ll dine al fresco while a charming man plays the mandolin and sings “O Sole Mio.” Ciao.

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: #Boise Weekly, #Falleto wine, #rejection, #writing

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