I was listening to a podcast recently and the interviewer asked the author to describe how they started down the trail to become a writer--in other words, where did the spark come from to become what they became?
I then thought about my own life and how I'd answer that question . . . and I almost cried. Even though the spark for writing occurred back near the second grade, and I even started writing a trilogy in the seventh grade on an old black typewriter--similar to the one used in the Stephen King movie Misery--I didn't become serious until I was in college.
In other words, roughly twenty years ago. Wow, what took me so damn long to get up to this point! And I'm just now starting out in my writing career!
Well, that's not quite true. I started indie publishing roughly two years ago, and the knowledge I've accumulated about the publishing industry over the past nearly two decades is astounding and still continues to grow. I have to say this right here and now: I wasted many of those years chasing the gatekeepers--AKA literary agents--and finding few results. I can't go back in time and re-do it.
All I can do is start where I am right now . . . and keep moving.
And that's what I'm doing.
Now, many of those years was also spent working two part-time jobs in the law enforcement field. And, when I wasn't working or taking care of my family, sometimes I did sleep. But there's rarely a day that went by I didn't think about writing.
It's what I do.
It's what I am.
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