Tough Ba-dookies

Before I explain my blog title, I wanted to officially announce that Running Wild Press has accepted my novella for adults, Broken Soul to Broken Soul for their next novella anthology. The publication date is set for either late October or early November, 2019. I’ll keep everybody posted on updates as they come in. [Here’s a link to my book trailer]

In honor of my recent acceptance, I wanted to share the history behind one of my middle grade novels. That’s where the title of this post comes in. “Tough Ba-dookies” is an expression my family uses. It’s not only fun to say, but has the potential to stop whiners from complaining excessively.

Here’s an example:
Person One: “Hey, no fair! You took the last doughnut!”
Person Two: “Tough Ba-dookies.”

While I prefer my unconventional spelling, what I uncovered (while consulting Dr. Google), was that the actual word is spelled, “badugi.” I should add that I learned this after the Doc and I cleared up the misconception that I was searching for “Bad Cookies.” [Who even knew there were websites about bad cookies? Besides, that’s not how you pronounce it. The double “o” has the same sound as “zoo.”]

But getting back to “badugi”: It’s a card game related to poker. In the context of a game, I can see where a player might stop someone who grumbled too loudly about a bad hand with the words, “Tough badugis.”

So what do tough badugis, or, as I prefer to spell it, ba-dookies have to do with one of my novels?

Anyone who has ever submitted a manuscript for publication and got rejected has felt the sting of a tough ba-dookie. How you handle that sting is what counts.

My middle grade novel, I Almost Love You, Eddie Clegg, was rejected over thirty times. With each “sorry, this isn’t what we’re looking for,” letter I received, I grumbled and whined. Naturally, there came a time when I had to chide myself with a, “tough ba-dookies!” I told also myself, so what if they didn’t like it? Read the story again, revise it and send it somewhere else.

Eventually, Peachtree Publishers accepted my novel, but it came with a speed-bump. Their first response was a refusal. Rather than sending me a form rejection, however, they sent me a three-page letter (single spaced!) listing what was wrong with the story. On the plus side, they included an invitation to resubmit if I chose to make major changes to the manuscript.

It felt overwhelming, seeing ALL the places where the story missed the mark. I’m sure I complained. Who wouldn’t? It was a major undertaking. Once again: tough ba-dookies.

I’d like to say that after that ba-dookie I pulled myself up and dashed off an amazing rewrite. Sadly, I can’t, because I started reworking the manuscript in 2001. September of 2001 to be exact. Yes, THAT September. And this was supposed to be a funny story. I struggled in the months that followed. Eventually I submitted a revised manuscript. Guess what happened.

Peachtree rejected the manuscript again.

In that instance it wasn’t a tough ba-dookie after all. Peachtree did something that RARELY happens in the publishing world. They assigned one of their editors to work with me on another set of revisions. This was back in the early 2000’s and the editor mailed my manuscript back … in two big envelopes. Almost every page had handwritten notes or questions. I’m sure I whined to my husband, “This is hard!” He didn’t say it outright, but it showed in his eyes, “Tough ba-dookies.”

After much gnashing of teeth I hunkered down and got the job done.

When I got the acceptance call from Peachtree I remember asking the woman on the other end to say it again just to be sure I heard her correctly. 🙂

Even before the rejections, the journey to see “Eddie” become a hardback book almost didn’t happen. A much earlier version, with a slightly different storyline, titled, A Lot of Trouble and a Little Romance was destroyed in an apartment fire along with every manuscript I’d ever written.

Every story. Every creative idea. Gone.

Today we have the cloud; back then, all I had was a word processor (also lost in the fire) and hard copies. There was no way I could recreate all I’d written.

Thankfully, I’d mailed a few completed manuscripts to my mother. They were hers to do with as she pleased, including throwing them away. I’ll be forever grateful that she kept them and was able to return them to me, including the manuscript that became “Eddie”.

Even though another of those salvaged manuscripts hasn’t been published, a second round of gratitude goes to my sister for keeping my fantasy novel, Frama-12, safe from the blaze. Someday I hope to see that book published.

The road to publication is rarely a smooth ride. So, for any author who has ever experienced a tough ba-dookie, keep plugging away. Because at the other side of that ba-dookie is success!

Here’s why it’s tough to get an actual badugi: