For years, I have been clinging to the sage words of one of my writing teachers, repeating them both aloud and internally, like a sacred mantra. Writing, he told me, is 10 percent talent, and 90 percent tenacity. That is likely true of most things in life. Whether searching for a literary agent, a publisher, a dream job, a relationship, persistence is clearly the way to success.
Somewhere in that equation though, I wonder if a certain percentage should be assigned to serendipity, that fortunate happenstance that surprises and delights. Serendipity, it would seem, was working for me recently when a new business acquaintance of mine was headed to New York City from his home in Vermont.
