“…Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” – Psalms 30:5

I went to bed with a book, a some furry people and a Hershey bar. I fell asleep around midnight and slept fitfully, waking around 6:30 a.m. I tried to go back to sleep, but when I was problem solving in my head about the day to come, I knew it was no use.

I decided to make the best of it by cooking a nice breakfast and photographing the sunrise. I sat in front of the glass door facing the rear of the property with a cat on each side and snapped photos every few minutes.

I like the above image. Though fashionably late, the sun teases me with his presence. A promise of the day to come, and the certainty of a fresh start. I certainly need the fresh start.

While the weeping did only endure for a night, I wouldn’t exactly say joy is my companion today, despite the promise of the lovely sunrise.

I am trying to stay positive, though. I remind myself that it’s only a book, that this deadline is one I’ve placed on myself, and if I don’t make it, no one will hate me (okay, I’ll hate me, but I’ll have to get over it.) This setback is teaching me things. Things like patience, and trust, and dependence on God.

Last night I remembered that I had an old computer in the basement that ran Windows XP AND Word 2003, so today is being spent down there, reworking the file.

I actually thought I had fixed the formatting issues, and the font issues, but upon re-uploading, Create Space said my margins were still wrong, and that my fonts were not embedded, even though I followed their online instructions to the letter. On the positive side, I did discover that not all of my photos were sized wrong, as first feared. Only 17 of them claim to be 72 dpi, even though when I check them, they read 300 dpi, as they should.

This probably means nothing to a lot of you, which is why I hesitate to share these tedious details. I decided to walk away again and write this update. I don’t anticipate things changing much before tonight. Just know that I am moving forward at a slow (still uncertain) but steady, pace.

I do thank those who have reached out with a kind word or thought. It is such an encouragement to me. Here’s hoping that the predicted ice storm avoids us and that the power stays on through the weekend!

Also, happy birthday to my cousin Lauren, who gets to celebrate with her pretty baby this year. 🙂

Right at 35 days before my 35th birthday, Rachael and I found out that a book we wrote about our experience making our first film “No Lost Cause,” was being returned to us by the publisher after a year of waiting for it to be printed. Instead of wallowing in our collective misery, I committed to blogging every day while I searched for ways to overcome this perceived rejection and obstacle to our goal. I currently also have about three other projects brewing at the same time, and write about the progress of each of them. This is part of that series.

Read the first entry here: https://ashleyraymerbrown.com/2015/01/23/35-days-to-35-dealing-with-rejection/