The Gamble Paid Off

Here is Emily Giffin's story. If you have read her work you will agree with me, we're glad she took the gamble.


Emily Giffin, a Chicago native, graduated summa cum laude from Wake Forest University and the University of Virginia School of Law. After law school, she moved to Manhattan and practiced litigation at a large firm for several years while she paid back her school loans, wrote a novel in her very limited spare time, and dreamed of becoming a writer.

Despite the rejection of her first manuscript, Giffin persisted, retiring from the legal profession and moving to London to pursue her dreams full time. It was there that she began writing Something Borrowed (2004), a story of a young woman who, upon turning thirty, finally learned to take a risk and follow her heart. One year later, Giffin’s own gamble paid off, as she completed her manuscript, landed an agent and signed a two-book deal on both sides of the Atlantic. The following summer, Something Borrowed, hailed as a “heartbreakingly honest debut” with “dead-on dialogue, real-life complexity and genuine warmth,” became a surprise sensation, and Giffin vowed never to practice law again.

Dubbed a “modern day Jane Austen” (Vanity Fair) and a “dependably down-to-earth storyteller” (New York Times), Giffin has since penned nine more New York Times bestsellers, Something Blue (2005), Baby Proof (2006), Love the One You’re With (2008), Heart of the Matter (2010), Where We Belong (2012), The One & Only (2014), First Comes Love (2016), All We Ever Wanted (2018) and The Lies That Bind (2020). 

All of her novels, filled with endearingly flawed characters and emotional complexity, have resonated deeply with both critics and readers around the world, achieving bestseller status in a number of countries, including the United States (#1), Canada (#1), United Kingdom, France, Brazil and Poland (#1). The books have been translated into thirty-one languages, with over twelve million copies sold worldwide. In addition, five of her novels have been optioned for the big screen and are in various stages of development. The first, Something Borrowed, hit theaters in May 2011, starring Kate Hudson, Ginnifer Goodwin and John Krasinski.

Giffin now resides with her husband and three children in Atlanta. Her eleventh novel, Meant to Be, was published on May 31, 2022.

https://www.emilygiffin.com/biography

Meant to Be

By Jill Weatherholt

Have you ever tried something over and over, only to get the same result?

In 2013, I was on a mission to sell a sweet romance short story to Woman’s World magazine.

During that first year, I wrote, submitted and received multiple rejections.

When I finally realized my method wasn’t working, I purchased two orange three-ring binders. I labeled one “Woman’s World Stories” and the other “Woman’s World Submissions.”

Every week I bought a copy of the magazine, located near the cash register of every major grocery store chain. I’d tear out the story, three-hole punch it and place it in my notebook. Week after week, I studied and dissected each story. I discovered an obvious formula to writing these stories and I was determined to crack it.

Years passed and I continued to submit my stories. During that time, I wrote a book published this year by Harlequin Love Inspired.

As the rejections from Woman’s World mounted, I couldn’t figure out what my stories were missing.

While writing my first book and those that followed, my sweet mother would periodically ask me, “Am I in your story?” At first, I laughed telling her, “Not this time.” Then it hit me. Why wasn’t she?

On a rainy Saturday, I sat at the kitchen table and wrote my mother’s story, loosely based on when she met my father. Something magical stirred in my heart and the words flew on the page. In two hours, “Test Drive for Love” was written, starring Nell and Charles, my parents. The next day, I submitted the story.

Ten days later, I received an email from the editor, Woman’s World wanted to buy my story. To say I was overwhelmed with emotion would be an understatement, but it wasn’t just because of the sale. Of course, that was great, but the fact that they wanted to share my mother’s story with a circulation of over 1.5 million readers told me those years of waiting had a purpose.

Share a time when you didn’t take “no” for an answer.

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By day, Jill Weatherholt works for the City of Charlotte. At night, and on the weekend, she writes contemporary stories about love, faith and forgiveness. Raised in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., she now resides in Charlotte, North  Carolina, but her heart belongs to Virginia. She holds a degree in Psychology from George Mason University and Paralegal Studies Certification from Duke
University. She shares her life with her real-life hero and number one supporter. Their relationship grew on the golf course, and now they have one in their backyard.  Jill believes in enjoying every moment of this journey because God has everything under control.  Jill loves to blog @ https://jillweatherholt.wordpress.com/ Her website is: JillWeatherholt.com
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