Growing up, I was extremely shy. I had a hard time meeting people or making friends because I was usually too shy to initiate the first conversation or what have you. Sometime during elementary school I tried my hand at writing. I just started writing stories or little bits of things.
My parents and grandparents would ooh and aww over what I wrote so I would continue to do it here and there. I remember a computer in my room and sitting at it and just writing. My memory is a little foggy, but I’m pretty sure it was a story of some sort.
In fifth grade, I entered a writing contest at school and got a first place ribbon. I was so proud of that!
Writing would go on to be my voice when I was too shy or weak to speak with my voice. I tried my hand at lyrics and poetry. Poetry quickly became my first love of writing because, as I tell my students, while yes there are rules in poetry, no there really isn’t. It’s the freest form of writing out there in my opinion, so I don’t know how many pieces of poetry I had written by the time I was a senior in high school.
It was my mom that kicked started my writing career when she saw an ad in the newspaper about a poetry contest. She encouraged me to enter, so I did. It ended up being one of those things where you write a poem and we’ll put it in our book because that guarantees you will buy the book. But, technically, that also means I’ve been published since 1994!
Writing would go on to become my go to when I needed peace in my mind and soul. It’s where I’m free to be me, one hundred percent myself. You see, I discovered a few years ago why writing was so important to me. I breathe when I write. I know who I am when I’m writing. Not a single doubt exists inside of me when I’m writing.
When I decided to chase the publishing bug for real, self publishing was becoming popular. My ex convinced me to go that route because it was the “easy” way. I will admit it was freeing to write whatever I wanted and publish it. At any given time, I have a minimum of thirty ideas in my desk drawer waiting to see what I will do with them. Self publishing helped me to become a multi-genre author. I have written stories for children, novels for women, workbooks for creatives, lyrics with my husband, and of course, collections of poetry.
But, my dad being the wise man he is, has always been in my head since the days of writing through high school. I tried my hand at getting lyrics sold to music companies and they would write back “for a fee…”. This is before self publishing, so my dad would always tell me, if you have to pay for it, it’s not legit.
Now, I’m not saying self publishing is not legit. So, PLEASE don’t hear that! Things changed enough in the writing world that self publishing became a legitimate avenue for authors. But, I think my dad knows me pretty well and I think he understood before I did my desire to be traditionally published.
In my mind, I ask myself, “If I have to pay for it, am I really a good writer?” My readers will say yes to that question. But me being a perfectionist (discovered this about myself about a year ago), I need to know I can make it in the traditional world. I know I can. I’m determined to. And as my editor stated the other night, I’m going to because I go after what I want. So, she and I are working very hard to get my newest piece of writing ready for the traditional world.
I don’t need to be J.K. Rowling or Janet Evanovich. I’m not after the New York Best Seller list. I am after proving to myself that I can be a part of the that world.
It’s this kind of drive that makes me go hard after everything I put my mind to and believe in. It’s this drive that makes me a little different than you would expect when you first meet me. It’s this drive that will get me where I intend to go. The ride is bumpy and humbling at times but it’s so worth it and The Heart of Alpine is going to catapult a whole new exciting side of my author career!
