A Writer’s Journey

One of the hardest things I’ve had to accept in life is change, but, ironically, it’s usually been for the better. In the past nine months, I’ve lost over fifty pounds. I am slimmer than before I became pregnant with my daughter eleven years ago. I feel great. I am walking a half hour a day and am no longer out of breath, nor do I have any pains in my knees or legs that I’ve had in the past. The changes I’ve made in my diet and lifestyle have been gradual but persistent. It’s been a journey of determination, but it’s paid off.

My daughter is also on a journey as she enters adolescence. In the last year, I’ve seen her blossom into a young woman seemingly overnight. In a few weeks, she will be attending Middle School having made the decision to switch from the Catholic school she’s attended since Kindergarten. I know this will be a big change for her, but I’m confident she will meet new friends and expand her horizons academically and socially.

My writer’s journey is similar in many ways to my weight loss journey and my daughter’s growing up journey. It’s been slow but sure, and I haven’t always known where I’d end up. I’ve been writing since I was young. I recall my teachers praising my work in elementary school. I can still recall writing notebooks full of stories and novels in my teen years. When I learned to type, I was using a manual typewriter in those days. Making corrections with that chalky correction ribbon was darn hard!

After I married, I began writing magazine articles. I had two cats then (had cats all my life), and I used them for material. My special cat, Floppy, had asthma and then diabetes. I researched these health issues and wrote about them for veterinary journals. When Floppy passed away, I wrote “Cloudy Rainbow,” my self-published novel that I dedicated to him and my young daughter. Floppy was actually a character in it. At that point, my journey stalled. Working full-time as a librarian and caring for my daughter did not leave much time for writing.

It took seven years before I started again after a patron who’d read “Cloudy Rainbow” kept gently nudging me to write again. I began writing short stories and trying to sell them. I didn’t have much luck, but I also started a book. Somehow, the characters and plot of “A Stone’s Throw, my romantic suspense novel took shape. Writing a few pages each day, I ended up with 85,000 words. I spent several months editing it and sending it out to publishers for consideration. After posting a short pitch for the novel on Twitter, a few publishers contacted me for a query and sample chapters. Limitless Publishing requested the full manuscript and then offered me a contract. I signed with them and am now pre-editing the book before it is published. I am also working on another romantic suspense book, writing articles for my local paper, and Catster online magazine. I am enjoying this journey, although it is time consuming and difficult at times. As with any journey, it starts with a step in an unknown direction. You just keep walking, and you get there. I am meeting fellow authors through groups and social media, and I am learning from them, my fellow travelers on this path to publication. I look forward to sharing this journey with readers, as well. I hope they enjoy my tales as much as I enjoy creating them.