Why Now?

Had you asked me a few decades ago, heck even a few years ago, if I would ever be a writer of fiction I would have laughed and said you were crazy. I write business documents, technical documentation, and end-user instructions, not fiction. Yeah, right!

That was all before I had a dream that caused me to write a complete 50,000+ word novel in a little less than a month. Yep, a novel.

My Aunt is an artist and a writer, my cousin is a writer, in fact one cousin is a published author and has a Master's in English Lit. Me, I'm a computer geek. So, when the stories first started coming I asked my Aunt about her writing, to see if I was going nuts or if this is "normal" for us. Turns out it's normal - for us anyway.

I've come to the conclusion that I must be experiencing "early dementia" as both Alzheimer's and Dementia run in the family. I decided to embrace this new stage of my life and write the first story. Half way through the novel a new character popped up and I started her book, then a third character chimed in and - whaddya know - I now have 1 novel complete, 2 others started, and the first novel is quickly becoming a series with books #2 and #3 started in some fashion.

I'm not a trained writer, in fact English was one of my weaker subjects. I have no idea how to get a book published, but I'm learning. Thanks to help from some of my favorite authors - MaryJanice Davidson and her book "Escape the Slush Pile" is a great read and offers lots of advice - Monica Ferris has answered every question I've thrown at her, and Maggie Sefton eased my concerns that I might - in fact - be crazy. It was comforting to know that other writer's characters "talk" to them as well.

This blog is the first I've ever had. I don't want to look at a computer when I get home and I never bought into the pressure to have my own website or my own blog. (To tell the truth I find it all very narcissitic) . So why now? Because apparently it's something writers need to be doing in order to help sell books. So here it is.

Should you feel so inclined...follow me as I get through the process of writing agent letters, negotiating the pitfalls of contracts (in case I get one) and how to take the criticism of your mother who holds a degree in English and doesn't like the fact that one of your main characters swears like a sailor, and because of that she refuses to read the completed book, instead preferring the other two characters who don't swear like a sailor. In fact one talks to God (who's a woman by the way) but that's for another day.