One of my favorite movies is POINT OF NO RETURN with Bridget Fonda. A young adult female believes she’s about to die by lethal injection. But after, she wakes in a room and is told that she will train to be a spy. (Really an assassin as got pointed out in the comments.)

The training is grueling in self defense but also in how to act, talk, and eat like a lady. The older woman helping her with her charm and etiquette literally forces her to say, “I never did mind about the little things.”

The girl says it through clenched teeth.

She finishes her training and moves out into the real world. But acting like a lady changes her. She loses her killer instinct and eventually wants out. In one of the last scenes, where her life is at stake on a mission, she says, “I never did mind about the little things.”

But this time she has a smile on her face.

I’ve taken that on as my mantra on this publishing journey and for my life.

There are so many things that could upset us: the state of the publishing industry, rejections, snarky comments on Twitter, opinionated blog posts, agents becoming publishers, writing slumps, discouragement…etc. You name it.

There are things in life too: schools focusing too much on testing, academic expectations not being met, coaching soccer in the rain for the fifth time in a row, a messy dining room when company stops by…etc.

Lately, I just smile to myself, toss my hair and say,

“I never did mind about the little things.”