For the past month or so, I have been in the “Whatever” stage when it comes to publishing. This isn’t a negative place, though it might sound like it, given the name. But that’s an abbreviation. Really, it’s the “Whatever You Want for Me, Lord” stage.

See, the industry has always been tough. Right now it’s nearly impossible. Yes, there are still successes, and I rejoice with every single one of them. But they never seem to come my way. I’m still getting those “this is solid, she writes well, but . . .” rejections. Or, more often, nothing at all. My agent is understandably frustrated with the lack of responses. There are projects we submitted nearly a year ago upon request that we’ve still hear nothing on.

And I’m okay with that. The optimist in me still thinks, “Something’s going to click with one of those. I feel it.” And the realist says, “But if it doesn’t, then whatever, Lord. Whatever.”

Because I’m promoting a book I love. A Stray Drop of Blood is such a huge part of me that I love dedicating myself to it, to getting it out in the world. And I’m working on a book I love. Not since Stray Drop has a book demanded so much of my mind as Jewel of Persia, perhaps because it’s on the same epic scale. I’m loving what I’m doing, which is something I couldn’t do for a major publishing house.

With my agent’s go-ahead, I’m going to focus on my projects for WhiteFire while we wait for the incredibly slow wheels of the major publishers to turn toward the proposals and manuscripts I submitted to them. And I’ve got this incredible peace and excitement about that. This feeling that “Whatever, Lord,” has led us to a place where WhiteFire can grow and expand and start helping others’ dreams come true.

Writers, you might want to check out WFP’s new and improved site. There’s some fun news on the Submissions page. We also just started a blog with one whole post, LOL. For news as we have it, you can check out that or subscribe to the newsletter on the main site.

Because “Whatever, Lord” is leading to new things these days. Though in some ways the changes in the publishing industry are terrifying for unestablished authors, in other ways they’re freeing and fun. I, for one, am going to focus on that side of things.