I Won! It Won’t Happen Again

The Washington Nationals — and I — had a good week last week. We both won in sports events that were “mind-bending, odds-shattering, pundit-shaming and impossibly thrilling.”

So, okay, the quote above comes from The Washington Post and describes the Nationals’ triumph over the Houston Astros in the World Series final last Wednesday. But it could just as easily describe my own win in the third match of a new singles tennis season.

As faithful readers of this blog may have read a couple of weeks ago, I decided to prove I’m totally insane by signing up (again) for a singles tennis tournament. (Last season, I lost every match. This season, I lost my first two matches.)

This time, I signed up because I’m treading water while waiting for my literary agent to spring my revised, edited, re-revised, and re-titled novel on publishers all over North America.

What’s In A Name?

Re-titled? Yes. Along with other changes and edits suggested by Paula, my new literary agent, the title had to go, too. I won’t go into details this week — because it is highly likely that a publisher will want to change it — again. Suffice it to say, however, finding a new title was probably more difficult for me than making all the combined suggested revisions and edits.

As a slight digression here, I should mention that the initial title of my very first published novel was Mouth of the Rat. That was my husband, Joe’s idea since the thriller was set in Boca Raton, Florida and, as anyone who has completed kindergarten Spanish knows, that’s what the city’s name translates into. Unless you translate “boca” as inlet, and “raton” as mouse in which case Boca Raton may well mean a slightly more pleasant-sounding, Inlet of the Mouse.

Scandal Is Born

The publisher didn’t like that title because he said — and he was probably right–  my (mostly female) readers wouldn’t buy a book with rat in the title. Instead, the publisher decided on Scandal — a title that has been used by about nine thousand authors before and since. I might also mention here that my brother Michael had an ingenious idea for spicing up the one-word title by suggesting S Is For Scandal.

Ingenious, but naughty since at the time bestselling author, Sue Grafton was about a third of the way into her alphabet series with M Is For Malice. And, just for the record, naughty, but legal because, of course, there is no copyright protection for book titles.  (Anyway, when she eventually reached the letter “S,” Grafton went with S Is For Silence.)

Back To Tennis

As for my “big” tennis victory? It took one hour and forty-seven minutes through two sets and a match tie-breaker with an opponent who was 17 years younger.  The score: 7-5; 2-6; 1-0 (10-7.)

I went into it feeling fairly relaxed, knowing I wasn’t going to win; knowing I had nothing to prove — and nothing to lose. I’d already lost the first two matches of the season. So, I was right on track. By now, everyone knows that “Someone Has To Be Last” is my mantra (and also the title of my blog about the first singles tournament I entered!)

So, there I was three games DOWN in the first set when suddenly I thought:

“No!

No, I’m not going to lose again!

I am not losing this set!”

Gonna Win This One

I thought of my wonderful tennis coaches. For one, there’s my real-life instructor, Jeanne (pictured) with whom I practice every week. I should win just one set, I told myself. For Jeanne. And, to show Joe I’m not just blowing through our savings for instruction that isn’t doing anything for me!!!

Then, there’s Serena Williams, my online coach who told me in her TV MasterClass that tennis is a mental game as much as a physical one, and then added: “the most dangerous opponent is one who has nothing to lose!”

That would be me, I told myself on the court last Thursday. So, I became dangerous and went on to win the next three games, and then the set. And, then the match.

Best part of all: my Fitbit recorded a calorie burn of 683 calories (6 calories a minute) for the match. And, an average heart rate of 144 bpm,  at one point peaking at 165 bpm. Yikes!

It’s not going to happen again!

(Unless it does!)