I
have always wanted to write books. I decided in third grade that I wanted to
write books that explained things. I wanted to make up stories that made people
laugh and cry and be scared and feel brave. So for the next thirty-five years,
I wrote. I wrote well, too, and had poetry, short stories and articles
published – well, a few – and told myself that ‘one day, I will be a published author.’
Yep,
yep – one day I will be… That gave me
an excuse to never do what it took to want it now.
In
2001, tragedy struck and kept striking for the next three years. I came to the
realization that I needed to do what it takes to become an author. And of
course, as it should have, this was the time I was introduced to the Law of
Attraction. I took all of the emotions I had experienced, all of the people I’d
met, loved and lost, all of the hopes and dreams and ideas that I’d envisioned,
and wove them into my novels. I joined a writers group and when the facilitator
moved to another state, I stepped in and began leading the group. When I
received letters from publishers – you know – the form letters which let you
know that there was no way on earth they would ever consider publishing even my
laundry list – I called them letters of
declination: the publishers had declined
to publish my book. It wasn’t a rejection
of my work or my life or my creativity; it was simply the publisher’s loss.
Over the next two years, the letters of declination stopped being cookie-cutter
in form and became personal notes from the editors. Every time I walked into a
book store or saw a shelf of books, I stood there and envisioned my books
sitting on the shelves.
What
I lacked was discipline. A friend of mine suggested I apply for a position as a
weekly columnist for Bella. I did; I got accepted as the Veterans Columnist and
messed up by arguing with the editors. I learned a valuable lesson when they thanked
me for my two weeks of columns and wished me best of luck down the road – I
asked for a second chance. They gave it to me and I applied what I had learned
to the weekly articles I wrote for veterans and also applied that to every
query letter I wrote. I had weekly deadlines and learned to write a thousand
word article in less than an hour. I began speeding up my writing, tightening
my focus, and went back to writing my novels by hand and using the time spent
typing them into a computer as the first editing of the rough draft. I carried
a notebook with me everywhere I went and used all those ‘wait times’ as writing
times. I stopped watching TV and used that time to write. Six months later,
Comfort Publishing bought Minna Pegeen.
I set up thirteen book signings the summer it came out. A year later, they
bought Bedina’s War and I was
invited to be a guest author at the Carolina Renaissance Festival. This
September I received two contracts in one week: Bedlam Press bought Perky’s Books and Gifts – a story which
was created in the very first bookstore I used to stand and envision my books
being, and Whiskey Creek Press bought The
Island Remains which I began writing last April after my doctor found a
very large tumor: Invaders come and go,
but the Island remains.
My
knowledge of the Law of Attraction began with The Secret – a video loaned to me during the years of chaos
mentioned above. In May 2013, I copied the top ten list from the New York Times website, pasted it onto
my word program, and then typed in my name and the titles of my published books
and those I have written in the top ten spots. I printed it out and have it
attached to my vision board on my dresser in my bedroom. That summer, I found
the book Abraham and the Law of
Attraction by Esther and Jerry Hicks in a thrift shop. Then I discovered
and watched most of their videos. I began sharing this knowledge with my middle
school students. I love teaching, and I teach what I love, too. My 60 students
have all created vision boards and we spend one to two minutes each class
period envisioning what we want and then releasing it to the universe. So, it
should have been no surprise to me (but I was greatly pleased!) when I found a
copy of the magazine The Law of Attraction on the shelves
of a store (and yes, I was standing there envisioning a dozen of my books with
stickers declaring me as a New York Times
Best Selling Author on them).
I
asked to become a published author
forty-five years ago. I believed
that I would become a published author eight years ago. I am so grateful that my writing can touch
people – can make them cry and laugh and escape and hope and believe and love. If
you want to write a book, write it. If you want to become published, open your
heart up and learn what the universe needs you to learn. Hone your skills with
those lessons. See your books sitting there on the shelves. People need to read
terrific books. Write them.
