Read on Twitter
I didn’t think I’d do a thread about this, but here goes: a list of rejections that turned into blessings (minus names of institutions, of course 
) 1/x: https://twitter.com/destinyoshay/status/1327367524745433089
) 1/x: https://twitter.com/destinyoshay/status/1327367524745433089
In 2018 I applied for a prestigious university fellowship I’d been an almost-finalist for in 2017. It would have required moving out of the region and teaching, which isn’t my ministry, but I wanted it anyway bc I wanted the validation of winning. I didn’t get it. 2/x
Then I learned my landlord sold my spot. I started apt. shopping & hated everything til I got here. When I walked in I said: I could write here. It had that vibe. I’ve written 4 books here and sold two. Couldn’t have done that at __ bc teaching @ unis saps my creative energy. 3/x
Speaking of writing, I applied for a job in 2019 that I desperately wanted. It was at an org I love and I felt like I could do the work and lead it well. Got to the top two and got a no. I cried that day. My friends tried to comfort me, but I was devastated. 4/x
The week before I’d told a joke to @clairedjimenez about a woman wilding out on her job and destroying college exams. I’d been AP grading all that week and I was over it. That idea turned into a short story, then a novella, then a book I just sold in September: DREAM GIRLS. 5/x
That job wouldn’t have allowed me to do that. While talking to one of the employees during my interview process, they said: I haven’t written in years. That could have been me. Thank God it wasn’t. 6/x
In 2019 I got rejected for a grant that would have given me a grip 
, which I would have promptly spent, but later that year I also lost my job & had to cash in some of my retirement. All that money together would have put me in a tax bracket for owing a shitload to the IRS. 7/x
, which I would have promptly spent, but later that year I also lost my job & had to cash in some of my retirement. All that money together would have put me in a tax bracket for owing a shitload to the IRS. 7/x
Also in 2019 (I was busy 
) I wrote an essay on spec that got rejected bc the higher ups said it wasn’t interesting/revealing enough. It got rejected fr a few other places too. That essay? “Be Good”, which got published this year in The Paris Review 8/x. https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2020/07/29/be-good/
) I wrote an essay on spec that got rejected bc the higher ups said it wasn’t interesting/revealing enough. It got rejected fr a few other places too. That essay? “Be Good”, which got published this year in The Paris Review 8/x. https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2020/07/29/be-good/
And finally, in 2018 I was the runner up in a poetry contest. I was grateful but also kinda bummed cause I wanted that win & that prize money. But I met the judge later that summer and we kept in touch. During one convo he asked about my manuscripts and I said they were done. 9/x
He said: let me reach out to my presses to see if they’re reading manuscripts right now. One place said they would but it might take a while. In July, the same day “Be Good” got ANOTHER “no,” I got an email from the editor. That book is Negotiations 10/x: https://tinhouse.com/book/negotiations/
Ok that’s all: thanks for reading, and thanks to @FaylitaHicks for gently promoting me to do this. I don’t always like talking on here but I’m happy to do it if it helps someone. 
11/11 (look at that! Ima make a wish.)
11/11 (look at that! Ima make a wish.)
