I don't really have any advice. Just wanted to say Hi, we're neighbors.

I've noticed that we're neighbors too. Hi :)

Publish yourself and see what people think? Workshop it?

Could you make the rejections hurt less by making a game out of them?
Like: every 10 rejections you earned yourself a day of pizza and pastries!

Or maybe you could make a scrapbook out of the rejection letters. Paste them in, decorate them with swears and mustaches, and then on the facing page, write a mean response to the rejection.
Dear Grant-Givers,
I hate you too!
I hope you sit on an already-wet public toilet.
Love, special-k
P.S. it is important not to send those letters in case you want to reapply

I'm not sure how I got better at it. I have to huff and puff a lot before each interview to avoid taking things personally. It does help that I'm stubborn as hell. These days I don't interview anymore since the who age + woman + kid thing is a basic shut door from the get-go so I just freelance and fancy it.

(i just deleted a whole thing about pounding the pavement after graduating and all he rejections you get like "your book is great.. but we don't hire juniors / are looking for a team /the chemistry isn't right / need someone blue for our diversity score" as I'm drowning in memory lane here after hearing that a mentor has just died)

If you find out what works, will you let me know?

My super awesome friend just wrote me a hand-written letter telling me I'm awesome even though I didn't get the grant [3rd year in a row]. She stapled a $10 bill to my "awesome" letter and suggested I spend it on beer.

Now I feel a lot better.

and rmless2: I love your suggestion. I am going to start a rejection scrap book.

"Failure" is another word for "attempt".