Many thanks to Alex J. Cavanaugh for starting this hop and this community. And many thanks to those helping co-host this month: Jemima Pett, Nancy Gideon, and Natalie Aguirre!
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April 5 Optional Question (s): Do you remember writing your first book? What were your thoughts about a career path on writing? Where are you now and how is it working out for you? If you're at the start of the journey, what are your goals?
I remember my first childhood book, one that I destroyed before I let many people read it. My second start on a novel ended up similarly discarded. My third, written in my late twenties, came after a series of novels started without finishes, and it still resides as an extremely messy draft, a 1.5 version I had edited by someone from an editing class.
Before I ever wrote a book, and while I wrote my first books, and still, today, I wrote and still write short stories and poetry. My first publication was a poem. My second, a short story. These short works kept me going as a writer, despite doubts, setbacks, and curveballs.
My first finished, edited, and published novel was Champion in the Darkness. I had so many doubts through the process of writing it that the before-editing final was the fifth or sixth draft. I thought if I could sell 100 copies a month, I would be doing well.
I didn’t understand the way indie authors have to market their work or how much confidence I would need to have to keep writing even when my books sold far fewer numbers.
While I don’t regret many decisions along the way, I can say I spent a lot of time learning. My only regrets include not believing in myself enough, not getting my work out into the world sooner, and maybe that one conversation I had with a fellow traveler who was interested in my writing at an airport years ago - in which I said I would never write romance and then I found out he was an agent for romance authors. (Yeah, that was embarrassing. He gave me his card. I was too embarrassed to ever send him anything, and again, back to regret #1.)
I have learned that no matter the level of editing, a book will have typos. I have found that the amount of success an individual book has does not have an equal comparison to the amount of sweat I put into that book.
I have learned that the ideas I have are numerous, and I need to prioritize them as I go, because I’m still just getting started, even though I’ve published fifteen books, not counting serializations.
My latest book 25 Impossible Tales of Survivors, Flawed Heroes, and Annoyed Villains is a short story collection because while short story collections often don't market well, my short stories have kept me going as a writer, and I want to continue to honor them, so when I get a number I like, I collect them together and put them out there into the world. One of my ongoing projects this year is poetry collection, beginning with the poem that made me an "award-winning" poet. I plan to publish that collection next year.
Where are you in your writing journey?
Based on what I've learned, these are my tips for fellow authors:
- Have confidence in your voice and your stories.
- If a fellow traveler asks about your writing at an airport, tell them briefly and then ask questions, and don’t say you will “never” write any particular genre.
- Think about your legacy of books, even if you are on your first.
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