My Wonderful Year As An Author

Greetings!

My first book, THE RAKE’S HANDBOOK, was published in November 2014. My third book in the series, TO CATCH A RAKE, will be published in February of 2016. A little over one year of authorial bliss.

How did it go?

 

It wasn’t at all what I expected, but what did I expect?

Hard work is a given if you plan to write a novel. My life’s career was in a scientific field, so I had no training as a writer. “Well brain, you large pile of margarita-addled noodles, let’s do this!”

So a little research revealed Romance is a best selling genre, over fifty percent of mass-market books sold. “Fabulous. What’s a romance?” A friend, Eve, gave me a list of books she loved, so I started to read. Then I found FREDERICA, by Georgette Heyer. Like the rest of the planet, I was charmed, entertained, and amused by Heyer’s story. “Okay, a romance novel like that one is my ultimate goal.”

Time to train the vestigial right brain (if the neurons still fired). So I joined the RWA. At the first meeting, someone asked the person next to her, “What do you write?” The lady answered “paranormal.” I wasn’t quite sure what that was, but it must be good, because it wasn’t normal. So, I figured that question was the polite thing to do, I turned to the lady next to me and asked the same question. She answered, “RS.” Well, I thought this was exciting news, so I replied, “I write Regency Stories too!” 

Clearly, all those years ago, I was starting at the bottom. The great thing about starting at the bottom is that there is no place to go but up.

That beginning led to today, my first completed year as a published author. And yes, there were bad reviews and writer's block and stress over re-writes. But overall, my first year of being a writer can be summed up with these words: “It’s ALL good.”

Do you love to write stories?