4/22/09

Family Plots: Surviving Rejection Part Two

Mary Patrick Kavanaugh

Show Description:
Bay area writer, Mary Patrick Kavanaugh, recently put to rest her grandiose dreams of publishing contracts, movie options, book tours and a guest spot on Oprah Winfrey Show at an extravangtly held funeral service on Dec. 6th, 2008, for her rejected novel, Family Plots: Love, Death, and Tax Evasion. Guests at the funeral were invited to bring remanants of their own dead dreams to bury with the author's dashed hopes. Friends and family, sick to death of hearing about "the book" supported her in her effort to just self-publish and move on. In fact, the jacket of the book displays a shiny gold seal that states, "Awarded Sixteen Rejections from Prominent NYC Publishers 2008".
Family Plots was pitched as a "fresh and funny autobiographical novel about a young mother trying against all odds to create a normal family life with her new husband, a criminal attorney- who it turned out- was committing a few crimes of his own." Despite a snappy query letter that opened numerous doors, editors read it, loved it, but decided they just weren't ready to take a leap of faith on an unknown writer.
From this enlightening experience, Kavanaugh has decided to take her knowledge of the changing publishing industry and her own personal life story, which is the basis of her book on the road. "There are alternatives to mainstream publishing as well as the resurrection of dead dreams...whever those might befor each of us," expresses Kavanaugh. Her goal is to bring her idea of turning "Crap into Compost" to the public arena and get the discussion going on how we can overcome disappointing hurdles and creatively move on to other things in life that give us fulfillment. As Kavanaugh has recently found out....it's not just about the book....it's about letting go of expectation long enough to see a situation with a new perspective

http://www.mydreamisdeadbutimnot.com

Guest Bio:
Mary Patrick Kavanaugh has a lively work history that includes time served in a wide range of professions, ranging from private investigator to Avon Lady. Being bossy and entrepreneurial by nature, she has spent the majority of her adult career providing executive management and strategic marketing planning for start-up businesses and organizations.
A writer since the age of eight, Mary's award-winning creative nonfiction has been published in Alligator Juniper, Room of One's Own, San Jose Mercury News, and the San Francisco Chronicle. Her professional writing has appeared in numerous trade journals. Mary is the 2003 recipient of the nonfiction award from the Soul Making Literary Competition sponsored by the maerican Pen Women, and winner of a 2003 honorable mention. She has been awarded writing fellowships at The David and Julia White Artist colong, Hedgebrook: Women Authoring Change, and The Vermont Studio Center. She recently published her first book, "Family Plots: Love, Death, and Tax Evasion."
Despite public displays of disappointment over the rejection of her novel by sixteen different publishers, the author celebrates having one perfect daughter, one happy marriage with a loving (now deceased) husband, one well-adjusted cat that perfers to live with her aunt, a great day job, and a confusing, yet fun, personal life. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of San Francisco, a BA in History from San Francisco State University, good teeth, and an excellent credit rating.