Susan Palmer's Exquisite Now

This camellia began to set buds sometime in October, about six months ago. Three weeks ago, the flowers began to open.

For the record, I didn’t go outside in November and stare at the buds, hoping they’d open right then. I didn’t do it in December or January or February, either.

But in early March, when the daffodils began showing off, I did go out and look at the camellia and saw that the first bits of color had begun to reveal the coming blossoms.

I love how it’s at the height of its gorgeousness right now.

So that’s my metaphor with the writing process, something to help me maintain perspective. A book is written and edited. The supporting materials about it have been written and mailed to potential agents.

How long it takes for the subsequent unfolding is in the hands of forces I don’t control.

One more metaphor: This is kind of like being midway up a mountain. From the bottom the mountain looked very scalable, but half way up, the full height and steepness has become much more apparent. Having invested the time and energy to get this far, it would be counterproductive to turn around and go down.

Or, as my mother used to say: Patience, little one.