My advice to any young writer is very concise and strong—don’t do what I did as a writer! I waited and waited and waited!
My 1st Book
After I graduated from Colorado State University in 1986, I started teaching in Denver at Martin Luther King Jr. middle school. That summer, I went home to see Mom and Dad. On a regular visit to the ranch, we went by the Phillie Place, a deserted homestead we visited often when on our ranch.
Originally the remains of a fainting couch sat in the corner. A big crock pot greeted you out front. I stopped at the steps leading into the structure, looked down and saw a blue marble. I picked it up, rolled it around between my fingers, wondering and wondering.
“Dad, who do you think this marble belongs to?” I asked.
His response was a short and crisp, “I don’t know. Maybe some rock hunters who were out here looking for arrowheads.”
That didn’t surface for me. When I returned home to Denver, this mystery had rolled around in my mind for a while. I sat at the breakfast bar, and on an old 2E Apple computer, the story poured out of me. The next day I went to the pool for a swim and then spent the rest of the day in my bathing suit, at the computer with my story about the blue marble.
Next time I visited my folks, I shared my story, When Will Papa Get Home?, with them—I had fictionalized a story I had heard my whole life about the Phillie homestead and the man who lived there. Mom and Dad both liked what I had done.
Then my life took over—too busy with my life of teaching to pursue publishing it for 29 years. It sat on my computer and whispered to me at various times, but I ignored it. Finally, I self-published this book in 2015 as my second self-published book.
My advice—don’t wait!
My 2nd Book
In 1992 or 1993, I wrote my book, This Tumbleweed Landed. Here’s what started it: I had an assignment in a summer college course I took with the National Writing Project. Our instructors encouraged us to use children’s books as writing prompts for our students. So, I went to the box of books on the table and saw, Waiting to Waltz by Cynthia Rylants. I’m a dancer, so the title popped!
In sheer delight, I settled in my chair and read the book, captivated with the format: short poem vignettes describing people and places Cynthia loved. I went home and wrote this book about my hometown, Branson, Colorado.
In March 2013, Mom died, and in my devastation, I needed something else to focus on because I had focused on her and her needs. This book came to mind, so I started revising it. In December 2013, I took a writing class in Santa Fe, New Mexico with the understanding every attendee was working on a book. So, I went. In the afternoon session, the instructor said, “Do a paradigm shift about your book. How could you make it different?”
At that point my book was only the poetry vignettes I had written in the 90s, so I thought, “What can I do to make it different?”
In that same class in the 90s, I had written essays about growing up as a ranch girl. I could use those essays, so I went home and added several essays to my poetry book, and this became a format I used for many of my other books: poetry and prose together!
But I had waited—22 or 23 years! Again, my life had no room for pursuing a writing career. I taught middle school and my ex-husband and I traveled all over the USA dancing. No time for publishing. Finally, I self-published this book in 2014 as my maiden voyage and learned a lot about the process of self-publishing.
My advice—don’t wait!
Finally,
I first published when I was sixty-one years old. Since then, I have published ten books and three cookbooks and recorded three audiobooks. So, I’ve had a rich full retirement, but what would my writing career have been if I started back in 1986 or 1992? Don’t wait!
My Newest Books
Time Measured Out!: Navigating Life’s Journey Through Poetry, Book #2 – $.99 for limited time
Is My Truth Universal?: A Woman’s Poetic Odyssey e-book – FREE
Was It a Dream?: Navigating Life’s Journey Through Poetry, Book #1 – e-book or $3.99
Hair on Fire: A Heartwarming & Humorous Christmas Memoir e-book on sale for $1.99
Buy My Audio Books:
This Tumbleweed Landed
Let Me Tell You a Story
Hair on Fire: A Heartwarming & Humorous Memoir Audiobook
