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About the Author

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Plainville, CT, United States
Having achieved my goal of becoming a published author, I contribute it to the fact that I have been writing since the age of 9. My boys were the inspiration for my children's stories and my life is the inspiration for my autobiography. I have a tendency to write about whatever I feel, relevant, interesting or not. I welcome any comments you may have, positive or constructive. Thank you so much for visiting and following my blog, My life.

Monday, March 26, 2012

A Leap of Faith

I have always been very personal when it comes to my writing.  I am careful who i let read my work and would never let any one in on any ideas that i may have for my next story.  Fast forward twenty or so years.
I still write and i am still a very private person when it comes to my material.  Could it be from the let downs, the put downs, the criticism and constantly being told that writing is stupid, i was never going to amount to anything and if i thought i was i was foolish? Could be.  Whatever the reason, i generally keep what i write to myself.
Recently, with the encouragement of a dear friend, i started sharing some of that material.  Reluctantly, i would post a little bit, talk about it and even pick up an old story to finish.  Wait, no negative comments?  This could be a good thing after all.
I take another step and create an author page on Facebook.  I'll keep this page for my material.  I go through the time line, start at the beginning of my "writing" and just go from there.  I post the very first poem i have ever written, the beginning of me as an author/writer.
Well that didn't turn out very well.  While i posted it on my wall and in MasterKoda, it didn't get as much traffic as i hoped even though i tried to solicit it amongst my on line friends and groups. Maybe i should have kept it to myself.....?
i wrote a piece of non-fiction a few years ago, but never really did anything with it.  That's what usually happens with everything i write.  It gets put away and doesn't surface again until i am digging through a drawer, going through old files on my computer, etc.  Well, remember that dear friend i spoke of earlier?  She told me about a book that was being put together for a child with cancer.  There were several authors, writers, artist, etc that were contributing material for this book.  What could it hurt?  She would even edit it for me......OK, so we'll give it a shot......
It didn't take long before she was done editing my story.  It was short but most of the editing was in my tenses.  I "sucked" as she so bluntly put it lol.  Good thing she is a dear friend or I may have gotten a bit pissed off.
Story edited, sent off to Inknbeans Press.  Now we wait.  I didn't know if this was a project for which every piece of submitted material was accepted, or if they actually sorted through everything and only picked what they felt was suited for the book.  I was very pleased to find out that they were accepting what was submitted.  Perhaps this is the beginning of something good for me for once.  It would definitely be something worth waiting for after all the bullshit I have gone through with my writing. Bullshit?  That's what I call it.   See the beginning of the blog - that's the general description of constantly being told that I didn't know how to write, etc.  you know, bullshit.
So we waited. And waited and waited and waited.  FINALLY the book was ready....I was very quick to order but would have to wait two weeks to get it as I couldn't afford expedited shipping.  The anticipation and excitement were overwhelming.  I shared with everyone and it felt good that they shared in my excitement.  Well everyone except the one person that I wanted to share in my excitement the most........
Not getting the congratulatory response I was expecting, my whole idea that I could finally become something quickly faded and I retreated back into my little private world.  No more posting.  No more writing.  I was going to put it to rest again, once and for all.  It was a stupid hobby anyhow.
Now fast forward to today. Just an ordinary day, but something strange happened today.  My brain was flooded with ideas for a story that I had no intention of writing for quite a while, if ever.  How was I going to write this story?  I had so many ideas pop into my head all at once and no time to do anything with them.  Working a full time job, taking care of a toddler and a home didn't leave me much time for writing.  But I HAD to put it on paper somehow.  But how?
I have "met" a lot of people on Facebook and in my Masterkoda group.  I have spoken to some more than others.  One in particular actually reached out to me.  I got a private message, an attempt to be friends as she wrote for young adults, and some stories for children. .  I had apparently mentioned that I wrote for  children.  I can't imagine what else would prompt her to reach out to me like that.  After all it was just  writing. 
Do I take a chance? Maybe.  Just maybe this would work.  She did after all show enthusiasm toward the subject matter of my next story, the Kangarillasaurus.  Actually stating that if I didn't write about it, she would.  This just might work.
I decided that I was going to take a chance.  Was she on line?  Nope.  I would have to PM her.....that would get her attention.  Just one sentence was all it took... "would you like to co-write a book with me?"  It didn't take long before she responded.  Very enthusiastically I might add.  Now I knew it was going to work.  I just had to test the waters a bit.
I gave her the ideas that flooded my brain while I was trying to work, and she would throw back a couple of her own.  By the time we were done, we had the makings of a children's story.  I was very pleased to say the least.  I had a good feeling about this.  Yes, there was that doubt, that fear that my ideas were going to get stolen but the more we exchanged ideas the more I knew that I had made the right choice.  The choice to take a leap of Faith.



2 comments:

  1. Awesome blog!!! And so well written! Keep writing Mel, even if just for yourself. Things WILL happen!!!!

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  2. *Sniffles and cheers* Hooorraaayyyy!!!!!! Great blog Melanie you brought me to tears! :-D

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