Her rejection was kind, “Many thanks for giving me the opportunity to consider your submission.  I’m afraid I didn’t feel strongly enough about the sample material to want to take things further but thank you for the chance”.

I took this to mean that she couldn’t envision selling it.  The submissions are a tricky thing.  Every agent wants something different – some want to see a chapter, part of a chapter, summaries of chapters, short bio or a synopsis.  I found it difficult to write chapter summaries because it meant putting years of my life into a paragraph or two.  It’s challenging to be objective with one’s own life and so I utilized AI (Microsoft Word’s Copilot) for the first time.  This was a blessing, in that AI did the trick within seconds.  Sure, I had to make some corrections but the speed of how it summarized my chapters blew my mind.  It was a positive experience in that doing this myself, digging up those challenging memories would have taken me weeks!

At a wine tasting last night I asked the winery representative if they are using AI.  I was thinking about potential help with blends. – how much of this grape, that grape, how long in the vat, in oak, etc.  She told me that they use drones to check out their vines.  Their drones can pinpoint sick vines so the winery can target where the issue is and what product needs to be applied.  This saves mass spraying of an area that may not need it. Positive.

My husband recently used AI to create detailed action steps that need to be taken from a day-long Board meeting’s notes.  Positive.

Amazing stuff and amazing times we live in despite the political landscape.  I have never heard the word ‘tariff’ as much as I have the past couple of months and I am concerned about the use of AI in a war scenario…what if Dr. Evil gets a hold of it?

AI helped me write a catchy descriptor of my memoir where the agent told me to sell my story.  I’d say it was a 50/50 effort but having the assistance sure did help.   This is what ‘we’ came up for The UnKind, the title of my memoir.   It is the story of my life from my earliest remembering at age 2 to 21 years.  I have included an epilogue to tie in my mother’s death when I was 50 and my relationship with my then two remaining brothers who hurled emotional abuse my way.

“The UnKind captures the tumultuous journey of a young girl navigating life amidst a backdrop of familial chaos and personal growth.  Her home life is marred by her mother who made bad choices when it came to men, became an alcoholic to cope with raising four children and then a battered woman when she invited her abusive boyfriend to live with them.  Her older brother bullies her throughout her young life and a second brother whom she saw as a protector rapes her.  The memoir provides a raw and honest account of her journey through grief and the challenges of navigating family relationships.  With her insatiable curiosity as to why she was born into this family, she found determination to have a better life.  That thought turned into a belief, then a conviction that changed the trajectory of her life”.

Some have asked me if I need an agent.  Yes, is the answer.  I have no desire to self-publish and most publishers won’t consider a writer without agent representation.  The publishing world is new to me therefore I want someone who understands it inside and out to protect and mentor me.

I’m ambivalent about the book being published.  First and foremost, I wrote the UnKind to help others.  The story highlights the resilience and determination as I navigated the complexities of my family life and strived for a better future.

If I don’t find a willing agent, then I’ll probably self-publish a small number of copies to give to people who have expressed wanting to read my memoir.  And thank you to those people as your faith in me helped me to the finish line.

My next book is going to be fiction.  Reliving a past marred with tragedy may be cathartic but it’s not fun!

In 1888, German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche first stated, “Out of life’s school of war—what doesn’t kill me, makes me stronger.” This sentence has become an overused and often parodied aphorism that, nevertheless it accurately portrays the picture of resilience and affirmation for overcoming adversity.