This past Friday, October 15, 2021, I attended the first live recording of the Greenspring Review’s podcast, In The Room! During this session, the GSR’s very own Josie Hunter sat down with Deirdre Danklin and discussed her recent award-winning novella Catastrophe! Having Professor Danklin in a previous English course here at Stevenson, I was looking forward to hearing about the novel and her experiences in general. The readings she provided us directly from her text were moving to me as her word choice was impactful. I’m looking forward to seeing it on the shelves come spring 2022!

Near the end of the session, we were allowed to ask questions. I inquired about how to deal with rejection. I had, interestingly enough watched a Ted Talk that discussed how J.K. Rowling was rejected about 11 times before Harry Potter was finally picked up, so I was interested in Professor Danklin’s take on rejection and experience with it. The most important piece of advice (in my opinion) that she gave was to not take rejection personally, which is something that we all could easily do. She said that it “wasn’t really about you, but more so about what the publisher or publishing company was looking for at that time and that your piece might not have been what they desired.” However, that doesn’t mean we should give up, she added, but we should continue submitting our work! I thought this was great advice because it can keep writers motivated and determined to keep trying because they truly never know who might just publish their books!

Congratulations again to Professor Danklin for getting her book published, and congratulations on the GSR’s pilot episode of their new podcast!