When I said that for the first time you could have heard a pin drop. Yes, some of the shock had to do with my age - I was thirteen at the time- but a lot of it had to do with what people automatically assume an author does. The assumption I've encountered all too often is that as an author you spend hours at your computer or with pen and paper slogging away at some story that no one but you will read. "Get a real job, girl. One where you can support yourself and not starve." Yeah a real confidence booster but it was the honest opinion of the speaker. Rejection doesn't start with that first query letter, let me tell you. It starts when you first open your mouth and say those dreaded words. By no means am I saying that being an author is easy, it isn't. You have to be dedicated to your craft, be willing to slog the hours and take rejection like cod liver oil! Still if it's what you want, then you have to work for it. Now I'm sure everyone has run into a roa...