Finish the Book?

Lately I’ve been feeling the desire to finish a book I’d been working on with many different starts over a few years. Perhaps it is the winter months drawing nearer making me long to sit at my computer for hours and write about characters in a different world than what we are living in today. I want an escape.

I even pulled up the old manuscript and read through some of the scenes and felt excited. I began writing seriously in 2001, publishing articles in Chicken Soup for the Soul. My first was published in a coffee table book filled with other stories and photographs. It was a piece to honor my mother and I’m grateful she was still alive at the time. From these shorter pieces, I began to take online classes to learn how to write fiction.

Oh, the rules! There were so many cautions for new writers not to do. Rules that should be followed if one ever wanted to be published. Honestly it was so much to absorb and it began to dampen my spirit. The publishing world was a huge place dominated by publishers who were overburdened with stacks of manuscripts. Most submissions were returned with a brief canned rejection letter.

About this time small ebook publishers began to rise. There was one that appealed to me so I decided to send in my first completed book. It was accepted and I was assigned an editor who worked with me to make the book publishable. The book did well and I submitted my second one several months later. It, too, was published and did better than the first. But I was a little tired of having to write sexy scenes to be a romantic suspense writer. So I chucked the rules and wrote the book I wanted to write. Emotional, suspenseful, and sweet romance. This was my best selling book ever. The reviews were good.

At this time, the publishing world again began to change. Amazon made it possible for writers to self-publish their books. I decided this was where I belonged. I received the rights to all my previously published books, made a few changes, bought new covers, and put released them under my own rights. I wouldn’t suggest this for anyone who has not already learned the ropes about publishing by working under an editor.

I continued to write a 4 book series of inspirational romantic suspense books, a nonfiction book, and two shorter stories. Until I hit a writer’s block and the desire to write faded. I struggled with the decision on whether to retire or not finally making the decision to do so in 2020 and removed all books from sale on Amazon.

And now the desire to finish a book has risen. Only God knows what my future holds. I’m trusting Him. Lifting my cup of tea with a smile and a hope. May your day be filled with hope, my friends.