I like Jordin Sparks. Aside from her extremely cute last name, and the fact that she is NOT a size two and still looks fabulous (kudos to regular sized teenagers!), I have to admire her poise and humor at the age of 17 in front of millions.
I also like her because she reads Christian novels – I read an article in TV Guide about her favorite novel (which just happens to be mine – Reedeeming Love by Francine Rivers). Gotta like a girl with great taste in fiction.
But finally, here’s why Jordin is probably my favorite American Idol (although I’m still a Carrie fan). It’s because she didn’t take no for an answer.
Let me splain.
I watched her on Regis and Kelly this morning, and amidst the giggles and cute humor she mentioned how she was TURNED DOWN FOR IDOL in L.A. And yet she went home, worked on her act, and went BACK to the Idol folks in Seattle to audition again.
Rock on, Jordin.
But it made me think about the fact that as an author, so many times whether and editor or a reader likes my book is determined upon their mood, or current situation, whether they had a fight with their husband, or just read another book like it, maybe had bad fish for lunch. How many times do I pick up a book and put it back down – sometimes a dozen times – before I pick it up and it sticks with me?
Yeah, a lot.
Not only that, but it’s contest season in the writing world – a lot of struggling writers getting feedback on their hard-worked manuscripts. I judged quite a few this year, and had to remind myself to come to each with a clean palate. And I found a few that had Jordin Sparks potential.
But for those who didn’t win, or maybe even got challenging remarks…and even for us authors who occasionally get a bad review…remember Jordin.
Hey — who knows, you could be the next big thing.