One of the most frequent questions I?ve been asked on my journalistic journey is, ?How long did it take you to write that book??
Great question. But, which book I ask? My first took me 13 years. Write a while, work a while, raise a child a while, be a wife a while, then write a while? I?ve read tip after tip about how you should schedule time everyday to write. One opinion I did agree on was that it takes you at least an hour of writing to really get in the zone.? Yes, I agree but? but ?but? kids, laundry, supper!
When ?In the Coal Mine Shadows? was finally birthed after those 13 years, I didn?t know what to do with it. So I threw it up on a shelf for a few more years. Then one day about six years ago I told myself, ?Self? are you ever going to do anything with that book or are you just going to let it lie there on the shelf while the ink fades, and your dreams disappear with it??
So again I said, ?Self, first thing you need is an editor. So I made a phone call to a wonderful friend, who fortunately has two daughters who are retired editors, and ??wah-laaa? Jo Martin is marking up my manuscript like no bodies business. The second step had been taken.
There?s always something pulling a woman in a million different directions. Where does a working woman find the time to sit down for hours and write a silly novel? Well for me, my first book arrived in bits and pieces. An hour here, a half day there, even an entire week of vacation at times spent with pencil and pad in hand.
Number two ?Guardian Spirit?, it has truly been a wonderful experience writing this novel. Why? Because I am retired from public work and can write full-time. From the first stroke of the pen to the publisher, it has taken me approximately two years. (Which is truly a miracle from God.) Now with number three, ?The Color Of My Heart, I started it on August 31, 2009, and it is 50, 000 words into the first edit, a long way from my eyes to yours, but good Lord willing it will get there soon.
A very nice lady sent me a comment on my webpage last week. She said she has been writing her novel for a ?ga-zillion years?. She said I had inspired her! Yes, money is nice, but to be able to say you have inspired someone? priceless.
