Since childhood I have loved collies. One thing I love about them is their graceful, effortless trot.

I have been blessed enough in life to have been owned by several collies: Esther, Abby, Scot. All of them have exhibited that lovely gait that no other dog can emulate. And then there’s Savannah.

Savannah has owned us since puppyhood. She does not trot. She plods. She gallops. The trot is missing.

Because she is a blue merle—meaning her coat is black and grey—and because she plods, people mistake her for an old dog. She is seven. She has been mistaken for an old dog for years.

My writing resembles Savannah’s plodding. Thankfully I now have 49 books published, but, oh, those early years. I have a folder of rejection slips I’ve saved—150 of them. I don’t know how many I threw away before I started saving them. One east coast publisher wrote me a kind rejection letter for my children’s book, “Hubert the Friendless Snake.” I inundated him with children’s book manuscripts, none of which have ever been published.

I decided the solution was to get a literary agent. I got one. A crook. He took $150 for zero efforts and results and refused to return it. I desperately wanted to show up on his doorstep and demand a refund. But the logistics and travel expense of reaching North Carolina from Texas ultimately defeated that idea of revenge. I’ve since discarded that manuscript.

Then there was the publishing company that did accept one of my children’s book manuscripts. It held it for more than a year before deciding that the market had changed and they couldn’t use it. I still have it—several versions of it along with some beautiful illustrations an artist in Nevada did for me.

Enter the publishing company that accepted the first two of my Miz Mike cozy mystery-romance books. I wrote a total of eight books for that series. The publishing company promised to release them six months apart to build the momentum and keep it going. They published the first one. Two years later I was still waiting for the second release. It was released, but when the publishing company went bankrupt, I took back my rights to both books. I rewrote the books, hired an illustrator to do new covers, and changed to self-publishing. All the rest of the eight Miz Mike books were released quickly. I changed the title of the second Miz Mike to “Dead Body in a Pickup Truck,” which was what I wanted to call it from the start. The publishing company had deemed that title unsuitable. Dead Body in a Pickup Truck now has 23 ratings on Amazon with a 4.5 average. It is dedicated to my late son, Marine Corps Major Luke Parker, and includes the prophetic poem he wrote a year before his plane crash.

Plodding. I do my best to encourage other writers who want to give up. Plodding is difficult, both in writing and in dog walking. Take walking Savannah. When she plods in front of me, I have a tendency to run over her because she’s so slow. When she walks behind me, I need to stop frequently to let her catch up. And her gallop? It is so unexpected that she snatches the leash handle right out of my hand.

If you are reading this and you are a plodding writer, don’t give up. Even plodding writers experience explosions of success and joy.

Collies are my favorite breed of dog—even when they are missing gear. My favorite Psalm is Psalm 27. Verse 14 encourages, “Wait! On the LORD; be of good courage and He shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the LORD!”

Amazon.com: Stephanie Parker McKean: books, biography, latest update