Surviving Mercury in Retrograde
Life is going to be complicated for the next few weeks because the planet Mercury is in Retrograde. For those of you unfamiliar with this phenomenon, it appears as if Mercury is going backwards in the sky. It happens three to four times a year. This current period started on February 17th and will end on March 10th.
Since Mercury rules communication, during retrograde all sorts of things go haywire. It’s not a good time to sign contracts, start a new job, or make important decisions concerning your love life. Cars can breakdown. Planes get delayed. Computers crash.
According to fifteen-year-old astrologer, Emma Seigel, the protagonist of my young adult novel, Mercury in Retro Love, “Mercury in retrograde is like an astrological PMS.” Definitely not a good time for her to start a new relationship.
Unfortunately, Emma sees a boyfriend alert in her forecast and must act quickly to land the boy of her dreams before the retro period starts. Her plan backfires and she is soon faced with breaking up with her “not so perfect star-match.”
While writing this book, I went through at least a dozen retrograde periods. I had my computer guy and my astrologer friend on speed-dial and I can’t even tell you how many times I needed both of them.
In fact, since I started writing seriously with the goal of getting published, I’ve lived through over one hundred retrogrades.
So, you can see how long it’s taken for me to get to this point in my career.
But I’ve never given up. I’ve been through five agents (one ended our relationship during retrograde) gotten very close to a sale in several editorial meetings and have received enough rejection letters to cover the Zodiac.
Whether Mercury was retrograde or not, I’ve always persevered. I’ve stayed focused, believing in myself, my stories and my writing. And you know what? Perseverance really does pay off. (So, does backing up, but that’s another story.)
During retrograde periods, I am always mindful of how I communicate with those around me, charge my cellphone and iPad every night, and always leave the house wearing clean underwear.
But through the years I’ve learned it doesn’t really matter what day it is, what time it is or how the planets and stars are lined up in order write the best book that we possible can.
We just have to do it. Because we are the stars of our destiny.
Here is the link to my book. It’s FREE for the next few days.
Thanks for reading!
