Behind the Scenes of THE BEAUTIFUL MISFITS
Behind the Scenes of THE BEAUTIFUL MISFITS
By Susan Reinhardt
Other than a job as a supermodel, I can’t think of any career besides writing that whacks a person’s self-worth each time we put ourselves out there.
Oh, how close I’ve come to the golden writing ticket, the one opening the gatekeepers’ doors. Oh, the highs and lows of this business, enough to send some running for the bed or screw-cap wine on one day, and celebrating a win the next.
Years ago, back in 2005 before the recession, I landed two top agents, the first from New York and the second from L.A. I’d written three books of humorous essays and sold them for enough to buy a modest home, a divorce, and a breast lift. The boobs eventually sagged but the divorce held up.
Following these non-fiction books, I wrote my first novel, the IPPY-award-winning, Chimes from a Cracked Southern Belle, and my agent sent it out on submission.
I waited. And waited. The glowing rejections eventually fluttered into her inbox and then into mine. We came close but we didn’t get a deal. Thus dream agent and I parted ways amicably and I decided to focus on family, my career as a syndicated columnist, and in my spare time, I’d try to find a small traditional publisher.
Fast-forward several years and the book debuted with good reviews from the trades and decent sales. That was also the year I lost my newspaper job during huge company lay-offs and decided of all things, to become a makeup artist for Lancôme cosmetics. Unlike the newspaper business which is rife with ageism, Lancôme welcomed me into the flock of beauty advisors and artists.
It was a great gig. And it was fun and often hilarious. What we makeup workers experience behind those counters and with our wonderful clients lifted my spirits most days. I was getting paid to give people self-confidence, and my clients became good friends. I knew within weeks on the job, I wanted to set my next novel at a department store gleaming with various high-end cosmetics lines.
This is how The Beautiful Misfits, my new novel, was born. I had a story to tell, a painful story based on my experiences raising a son with addictions. For a decade, until he overcame his demons, I was a mom in the trenches of this gripping and deadly epidemic that is increasing its killing and devastation.
Many have asked. “Is this a true story? Is this about your son?”
No. Not really. My son’s issues were mainly alcohol and he’s been sober for nearly four years. He dabbled in street drugs but was terrified of opioids knowing they were often laced with deadly fentanyl. Several of my son’s friends died from overdoses related to fentanyl. I also grieved with the mothers in my online support group who instead of looking forward to their kids’ weddings and graduations, faced their loved ones’ closets while picking out funeral clothes.
It is awful, this epidemic. And I wanted to write about it in a hopeful, healing manner. In The Beautiful Misfits, I created a treatment center and resort combination based on years of research into the rehab centers in America today. Most are failing. Many don’t offer alternatives such as harm reduction, medications to ease cravings, and other means besides the Twelve Steps to get clean.
I wanted parents and loved ones to have hope and options. And I wanted my readers to experience much more than sadness. So in setting the novel in Asheville, N.C., where I’m from, and at the makeup counters, I was able to give the novel levity through humor. Asheville is a funky, quirky, and gorgeous small city and its vibe and scenery offered a break in heavy content. I also wrote many scenes at the cosmetics counters where the characters and clients engaged in over-the-top fun banter and shenanigans. I based it all on my experience but exaggerated it a bit.
After I’d gone through edits with critique groups, beta readers, and an agent-turned-editor, I decided I’d try for an agent. Surely, since I’d had two of the best in the biz, I could secure another.
Wrong. The world had changed. The material agents wanted, the writers they were signing, had also changed. My brand, I gathered, was out of favor. I can hear the echoes of agents’ voices in my sleep. Not quite right for my list. Wishing you the best in your writing journey. Only accepting mermaid werewolves from dystopian universes.
In between the avalanche of “Unfortunately’s” from agents, came a few bites for fulls and partials that padded my rejection cell so the blows landed more softly.
This is where I lit a match to my candle of hope. This is where I said, “I’m not giving up,” but eventually, I did.
I’d edited and rewritten this novel so many times I wanted to scream. I was tired of the obsessive-compulsive checking of my inbox as often as a Wall Street broker scans the ticker tape.
My heart felt like a dart board, and I decided to skip round two of submitting to agents. Some say if you haven’t queried at least a hundred literary agents, you’ve not tried hard enough.
But time mattered to me and I wasn’t getting in younger. I researched small, reputable indie presses and fielded a few offers. I decided to go with Regal House, a wonderful publisher located in my home state.
Since The Beautiful Misfits, I’ve written two other novels. One of those, Rebound for Rent, my first romantic comedy, is ready to shop. Once again, I feel torn. Do I try for an agent? Or send it to a small press?
Either way, it’s nice that writers today have options.
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SUSAN REINHARDT is a best-selling author known for her gift of taking serious topics and infusing them with humor and heart. She is especially praised for creating casts of unforgettable, quirky characters who stay in readers’ minds long after the final page. Reinhardt’s books vary from book-club women’s fiction to romantic comedies and romantic suspense for the over-thirty crowd.
Her debut novel, “Chimes From a Cracked Southern Belle,” won Best Regional Fiction in the Independent Publishers Book Awards international contest, and was a No. 1 Amazon bestseller. The novel was a top summer reading pick and a book-club favorite.
Her second novel, “The Beautiful Misfits,” releases from Regal House in March 2023 and is perfect for fans of Mary Kay Andrews and Kristin Hannah.
Her non-fiction humor titles include “Not Tonight Honey: Wait ‘Til I’m a Size 6,” praised by Publishers Weekly as filled with “lyrical prose” that’s “fun and fresh,” and by Booklist who lauded her work as “ranging from side-splitting to achingly poignant.”
She lives in the gorgeous Blue Ridge Mountains near Asheville, NC, and is on her second and final husband. She has two grown children, three steps, a granddaughter, and a rescue cat. Learn more at: https://susanreinhardt.com/
Follow Susan Reinhardt on social media:
Facebook: @SusanReinhardtAuthor | Twitter: @SusanGReinhardt
Instagram: @SusanGambrellReinhardt
THE BEAUTIFUL MISFITS
Eighty-four seconds can change your life. Or destroy it. Josie Nickels is an Emmy-winning news anchor, poised to rise through the ranks of television journalism. On a bitter March evening on live TV, the pressures and secrets burbling behind the closed doors of her ridiculous Victorian mansion explode and the overwhelmed journalist spills family secrets like a Baptist at altar call. The aftermath costs her much more than a career. It robs her of a beloved son—a preppy, educated millennial trapped in the deadly world of addiction.BUY HERE
Category: On Writing
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