In my humble opinion, I believe everybody should write at least one book and publish it! No, it may never be a number one best seller. But at least it was written and it was put out there for all to see and enjoy. And that's an accomplishment you can live with!
I was talking to a co-worker the other day about Children of the Luminaries. She mentioned how she always wanted to publish a book herself. Naturally, I told her to do it! Sadly, she said she could never do it because no one would ever read it. I then gave her the advice that was given me many years ago.
Never write for others. Always write for yourself. Write what you would like to read. Write about the things you enjoy! And if others read your work and discover they like it and enjoy it, then you have doubled your blessings!
Wise words from the one and only, Ray Bradbury!
Of course then she told me how she had been working on one particular novel since she was a teenager. She griped about how it was just taking too long to write. I laughed and informed her when I had actually started writing Children of the Luminaries. She was a little shocked and relieved all at the same time.
You see, the very first time I sat down to draft out Children of the Luminaries was written 25 years ago. We're talking 1990 here. On an electric typewriter no less! The second draft didn't happen until 8 years after that. I had gotten a used word processor and keyed in the first draft, making changes along the way. I put it away and didn't pick it back up until late 2003. In 2011, I shared the story with an online acquaintance who had a publishing business. Unfortunately, she and I had different ideas on how the story should go, so we parted ways.
It wasn't until late 2013 that my best friend told me that we are going to publish it ourselves. And we did. It took us a year and a half to get everything set up. But once that proverbial ball got moving...it MOVED!
On July 25, 2014, the first book of the Children of the Luminaries trilogy became a physical manifestation.
Now my journey isn't unique and it's far from over. Did you know there are quite a few people out there who got started late in life and succeeded in fulfilling their dreams of being a writer? Yep! It's True! And you can too!
My sharing my personal story is to remind you that your dreams will always be with you. But only YOU can live them out. Only YOU can fulfill them. Don't let the passages of time be a deterrent. Just DO IT! I mean...what do you have to lose?
Don't wait until you have the time...MAKE the time! Write about the things you know, the things you enjoy, the things that excite you. Just DO IT!
One of my favorite yearly exercises is writing a novel in thirty days. It's actually a national contest held yearly online. Lots of fun! And oh quite so liberating!
But you don't have to join any contest to put forth the effort of letting your fingers fly on the keyboard. Just take an hour a day every single day for the next 30 days and write your story. Don't look at what you wrote. Don't try to correct yourself. Just DO IT!
I will leave you with this last piece of sage advice that was given to me years ago by my mentor Joseph "CASAC" Casis.
"For all sad words of tongue and pen, The saddest are these: "It might have been." John Greenleaf Wittier
