*** Sometimes I want to toss my novel out the window. I completely understand what Dorothy Parker meant when she said, “This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.” I’ve been working on Beneath the Mimosa Tree for so long that I would be lying if I didn’t say I could throw in the towel. Writing is painful sometimes. We are hard on ourselves. But then I think of what Raymond Carver said: “Technique alone is never enough. You have to have passion. Technique alone is just an embroidered potholder.” Luckily, I have the passion. I could put my novel out…