What Does Your Gut Tell You? That gut instinct, the feeling deep inside that whispers when a situation is not right. Sometimes it is hard to hear that voice over what others tell you to do, or when you simply don't want to hear the truth. But the reality is, the longer you ignore it, the louder it will become, until you have no choice but take your gut's advice. My gut was the one to tell me I didn't want children; that was a difficult pill to swallow living around friends and family who had children and I expected myself to just have them. But my gut spoke up enough times for me to know in my heart child-rearing was not my path in life. And after firmly making that decision I have never once felt I missed out on something that having a child could bring.
More recently, I've certainly hated my guts for screaming at me to take care of my physical self. When I hurt my SI joint over a month ago I figured it would be a quick fix- little rest, hot tub time, and a few visits with my chiropractor and massage therapist, and I'd be back on my yoga mat where I belonged. That hasn't been the case and as a result I became beyond frustrated and angry that my body wouldn't perform how I wanted it to. So instead of taking the advice from the specialists I pushed myself back before I was ready and low and behold I re- injured myself. Six weeks later I'm still dealing with the pain but the difference is I realized I had to take a hiatus from yoga until I'm completely better. I remember sitting in yoga class in tears because all I could do was sit and watch, the pain was too much to try any pose. My gut had finally gotten through to me and with much chagrin I put my membership on hold for the first time in three years. But instead of feeling angry I feel a sense of relief. By truly listening to my gut I have gained a sense of relief knowing this is where I'm supposed to be right now. My instinct now is to retreat and not fight. And I'm getting better, bit by bit. Soon I'll rejoin my community of yogis.
Now comes to something that I've been struggling with and every Billings and so forth. So you ask what's the big deal? Do it! It will help your chances of getting published! That's the goal, isn't it, who cares how. This is true, so I did just that, I changed the names of cities and towns and some details that were very Canadian to help disguise my book as American. You know what happened? It didn't read authentic or true. It felt fake. And I hate it.
time I ask my gut, it tells me to stick to my guns no matter what others say. For a long time, years actually, I have struggled with this decision, and it invades my thoughts often when I write- Do I change the locations of my manuscript from Canadian to American? Those who not only know me but have also been kind enough to read Marbles and Wine know how Canadian I am and the story itself. So the answer seems natural to keep it in Canada, why not? Well here is the rub. In the publishing world it is really difficult to get a book published in Canada, most books are published in the U.S as they have the most well known publishing houses. And the majority of the Women's Lit population reside in America, which means it is easier to market a book set in America. And everyone I have spoke to in the publishing world agrees that I should change Vancouver to Seattle and Calgary to
So now I'm back where I started, do I keep it American or go back to Canadian? Well with time to think off my yoga mat, swimming laps in a pool, where I can let my mind wander for an hour, I listened to my gut. It has been telling me the same thing for years about this quandary. Keep it Canadian. It doesn't matter if a major publishing house takes it; it might better suited at a local publisher in Vancouver and my West Coast audience will appreciate the local flare and shout- outs to familiar locations. With that decided I guess I'll have to edit once again.
