Coincidence? Ha ha ha. Ummm. no: Part 2 of 2

Hey, hey. Hello. Hi there. Emily again.

Here’s what’s on my mind again this month: there is absolutely, positively no such thing as coincidence.  I mean, if you disagree, that’s fine and all, but here, on this blog and in this life, I declare without apology or hesitation: NO SUCH THING AS COINCIDENCE!! DO YOU HEAR ME?! IT DOESN’T EXIST!

Coincidence is just a word we’ve assigned to an enigma.  It’s easier to call it SOMETHING. So that’s what we do and pretend it exists but really, it’s all divine interaction.

In our last blog post, I told you about Joe and the great mountain rescue in Zion. I promised I’d tell you about the series of (divine) events that led us and our book  to a publishing home sweet home. So here goes…

Nicole and I have been co-writing for…I don’t know…thirteen years now, I think.  A long time. During those years, we’ve written four novels and attempted publication with each.  Admittedly, some of them are better than others, but there was this one…

It started out as Magic 8 but now, we—and the whole, wide world—will know it as The Other Side of Together. We loved this book. It came to us, was outlined, and written in six weeks.  Pieces of our hearts were on the pages.

Here’s what happened:

1.       It got multiple full requests when we queried it.

2.       It got just as many rejections but lots of feedback.

3.       We re-wrote. Edited. Ripped apart. Put it back together again like a Humpty Dumpty of words.

4.       We started a writer’s group.

5.       Years passed.

6.       We got an agent!

7.       We got a book deal!

8.       We did not like our book deal/publisher relationship/publisher vision for the book.

9.       We were uneasy but moved forward into edits.

10.   We met our editor, Laura, who had previously worked for Bloomsbury (where our manuscript had been on submission once upon a time). Laura had already read this book! She’d been an acquisitions editor who had taken it to the last step of the acquisitions process but the team had ultimately decided we didn’t have enough social media presence.

11.   We loved Laura.

12.   #ownvoice came on the scene. Our publisher cancelled publication for 50% of their clients but told us we were safe.

13.   The next day, we were notified that our contract was also being cancelled.

14.   We were disappointed but oddly relieved for being four months until publication

15.   We reworked the book and wrote others.

16.   Years passed.

17.   We decided to put the pursuit of publication in the background and write what we loved.

18.   We started researching indie publishing.

19.   We told God we were ready for Him to take over and do whatever He wanted with our writing career because He knew (multiple times over) exactly what we wanted and hoped for.

20.   We stopped querying and stressing and scheming. We continued dreaming and planning for a future writing career.

21.   At one fateful Storymakers writer’s conference, my sister-in-law found us at lunch and asked If we’d stopped by the Monster Ivy Publishing booth. No, we had not but…

22.   We did.

23.   We met the owner, Mary Gray. She sat and chatted with us for thirty minutes. WE loved her. She told us to submit our manuscript.

24.   We did. Hastily.

25.   She sent us an editorial letter with editing suggestions.

26.   We edited.

27.   We resubmitted. This…was…IT!! We patiently awaited her response.

28.   A few weeks later, Mary posted that she was going to sell Monster Ivy Publishing due to personal reasons.

29.   Anxiety ensued. (Are you KIDDING?! This was supposed to be it! We just knew it!)

30.   A week later, Amy Michelle Carpenter posted that she was buying Monster Ivy Publishing.

31.   We sent Mary an email asking what would happen to our beloved manuscript.

32.   Mary passed it along to Michelle.

33.   Michelle read it and sent us an editorial letter.

34.   We reworked our MS and sent it to Monster Ivy again because THIS was it. Yes, yes….this was the moment, without a doubt.

35.   On December 17, 2022, I was getting ready for bed and decided to check my email one last time.

36.   BEHOLD!!!! THE OFFER! THE PUBLICATION, WE’RE MAKING YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE, THIS REALLY IS IT MOMENT!

37.   Happiness, joy, and much hard work ensued.

38.   We are now awaiting the release of The Other Side of Together on January 17, 2024.

If you’d like to do a Big and Small Miracles Scavenger Hunt in the above 38 items, please do. You’ll find more than 38 not-coincidences.

We are supposed to be with Monster Ivy. Everything to the moment we signed a contract with them led us here. All the missteps and reworkings and rejections and detours kept us pushing, reaching, working. Now…we can rest from rejection and queries and who/what/where/when questions and put all our effort and love into making The Other Side of Together the most brilliant version of itself. 

We knew it was worthy. We knew it had a place in the world. We just had to find that person and publisher who saw the same and we did, but not without all the help from Above.  Oh, there was so much help. Once we turned over the navigation to a much more omniscient source,  the pieces dropped into place. And, oh, what a beautiful place it is.

We love Monster Ivy. We want our books to be here forever. We know this is exactly where we need to be and thank yous are sent Heavenward every day.

Things always work out. Not quickly, obviously.  But our timing is always just a little off. Wait for the not-coincidences in your life. They’re coming now and they’ll continue to flow into your world. Expect them, acknowledge them, embrace them.  They give great hugs.