Today I joined a list of people which includes Agatha Christie, Kenneth Grahame, JK Rowling, JD Salinger, F Scott Fitzgerald, William Golding and Stephanie Meyer. I had my first knock-back. 

All these authors had their manuscripts returned to them with the promise that they would never sell.  

Today I do not find myself on the shortlist for the Impress Prize for New Writers as “the quantity and quality of the entries this year was very high.”

After initial disappointment, I now feel like things are looking brighter than ever.  I think I’ll be finished the first draft by November, then I’ve got some edits to do and some bits to change, then it’s time to get it out to as many agents and publishers as I can.  Now that I’ve had the first rejection, I don’t need to worry about what more will feel like because eventually, one way or another, someone’s going to say yes.