Season 3, Episode 14:  He Refused to Let Rejection Win: The Lawyer Who Built a Home for Writers / themoltentruth.riverside.com / Release Date: July 4 / mishokrian.com / thievingmagpie.org

Every creative person knows the feeling.

You pour your heart into something. You polish every sentence. You hit "submit." Then you wait.

And eventually, another rejection arrives.

For many people, that's where the story ends.

For Michael Shokrian, that's where an entirely new chapter began.

When Michael joined me on The Molten Truth, I expected to meet a novelist. Instead, I met someone whose journey reminds us that our careers—and our lives—rarely follow a straight line.

Born in Iran and arriving in America as a child, Michael experienced firsthand what it meant to learn a new culture while trying to discover where he belonged. Those experiences would eventually inspire American Playground, his debut novel, but they also shaped something much deeper: a lifelong curiosity about people, identity, and storytelling.

His path, however, wasn't the one most aspiring writers imagine.

He studied creative writing, worked restaurant jobs, dreamed of becoming a published author...and then made an unexpected turn into law school.

On paper, it looked like he'd left the arts behind.

In reality, he was simply building the foundation that would eventually allow him to return.

One of my favorite moments in our conversation came when Michael admitted that going to law school initially felt like giving up on his artistic dream. Yet once he arrived, he discovered something surprising. Many of his classmates weren't there because they lacked creativity—they were musicians, painters, writers, and artists looking for a way to support their creative lives.

That realization changes the narrative many of us tell ourselves.

Sometimes our "day job" isn't the enemy of our passion. Sometimes it's the bridge that makes pursuing that passion possible.

Perhaps the most inspiring part of Michael's story is what happened after decades of rejection.

Instead of allowing closed doors to define him, he decided to build one of his own.

That decision became The Thieving Magpie, an online literary magazine dedicated to publishing emerging and established writers from around the world. What began as a small passion project has grown into a respected publication receiving hundreds of submissions every year.

Think about that for a moment.

The man who spent years receiving rejection letters now spends his time encouraging other writers.

There's something beautifully full-circle about that.

We also talked about the realities of publishing today—the misconceptions surrounding self-publishing, the importance of marketing, the long timelines behind successful book launches, and why so many talented artists find themselves balancing careers while pursuing the work they truly love.

It wasn't a conversation filled with shortcuts.

It was a conversation filled with honesty.

Michael repeatedly returned to one simple truth: creativity survives.

Whether someone is a lawyer, surgeon, teacher, or engineer, the desire to create doesn't disappear. It simply waits for an opportunity to be expressed.

His advice near the end of our interview may have been the most valuable takeaway of all.

The pursuit of your passion is worth it.

Expect setbacks.

Expect rejection.

Expect the journey to take longer than you hoped.

But don't confuse difficulty with failure.

Sometimes the process itself is the reward.

In a world obsessed with instant success, Michael's story reminds us that meaningful work is often built one quiet day at a time, one page at a time, one decision at a time.

If you've ever questioned whether your dream is still worth chasing, this episode is for you.

And if you've been waiting for someone else to open the door...

Maybe it's time to build your own.

Visit thievingmagpie.org to learn more about Michael Shokrian's literary magazine and discover the writers whose voices are finding a home because one author refused to let rejection have the final word.