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I'm an Author. I love to write, I love to read and I just love books in general.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

How becoming published changed my life. LOL.

The biggest thing that changed is that now when I'm typing away at my computer I can honestly say... "I'm working!" LOL. This means something because before when I was writing... not all people could understand why I loved to write, how I could spend that much time at it, and didn't 'get it'. Now... they can at least respect it and know that what I do translates into something they consider 'a good use of my time'. I've always considered it so but some people just don't think like I do. LOL
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There are some people that I can't tell what I do. A great aunt that I've been assured would 'not take it right' but mostly I tell everyone what I do. I don't hide it and I freely talk about it. I'd take out a local ad if I could, I'm so proud, but that's just me. I'm a really honest and open person about everything. I get some great reactions of excitement for me, a lot of eyebrow raising until I whip out a picture of Ral's Woman cover and then they try to not get drool on it while they ask me a ton of questions. I had business cards made up and I've handed out quite a few of them for potential sales. LOL.
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Of course then there's the bad reactions but they have been few. I had the husband of someone I know ask me totally inappropriate questions while he gave me looks that I'd consider 'leering'. Not the most comfortable conversation. I have also fielded a lot of 'publishing' questions by people who want to write everything from bio books to cook books. I refer them to the Internet for research. LOL. To date I've had about half a dozen people ask me if I'd write something with them so they could 'piggy back' into publishing. I told them I'm a newbie, no big name author, and sorry but that wouldn't work out for them. I have to give them credit though for asking and thinking of that concept. I even had a few people eye me strangely because I'm a mother of 4. They asked me if I should be writing children's books instead. ( Um... I'm not the magic mushroom or land of the smiling flowers type...LOL... but I respect children's authors, having read so many books in my lifetime but it's not my thing.)
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On a personal note I finally got some respect from some family members who didn't 'get' me writing. It went from 'eye rolling' to 'WOW!' I have some good and loyal friends who have been reading what I write for years who took out a collective sigh of relief because they have pestered me for years to 'try to get published, damn it!' It wasn't that I didn't want to get my books out there, it's just that life was extremely full ( 4 kids = not a lot of free time) but this year my youngest started kindergarten so now I have free time! My husband/hero has always supported me, always understood how I love to write, and was behind me every step of the way. He's really proud of me but then, he always was. Now he's just got bragging rights that his wife writes novels. LOL. He really gets a kick out of the fact of what I write. Totally a man thing and it amuses me to no end. He earns the 'research' credit I gave him in the dedication of Ral's Woman. He's always willing to help me out with any scene I want to write. What a guy! That's another way that this has changed my life for the better (WINK). LOL!
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There is a lot to learn once you get your edits. WOW. I'm learning all the time and you'll see a difference in my writing because I'm finding out what I do wrong. As an example, I was writing short sentences. I am learning to expand them. I can see the difference and editors are amazing people who teach us writers a lot. I've also learned that fellow authors are really wonderful people, very supportive, and very friendly. I am learning a lot from them as well. I even got a new best friend since Ral's Woman that I met in a group so Way Cool!
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I feel blessed all around and it's all been a great experience. On another personal growing experience... I learned how to make a website which I NEVER thought I could do. I am addicted to making 'cool' pictures (LOOK UP - That's about 6 pictures combined!) which is a lot of fun. Now if I could only learn how to put phone numbers into my cell phone or text.... LOL.

4 comments:

  1. What a great post, Laura! And it sounds like you have a really supportive hubby, which is wonderful.

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  2. Thank you, Helen! I do. He's really wonderful. Of course he has his moments too. LOL. Don't we all!

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  3. It's so wonderful when others finally GET what you're doing. I still get the whole *eye roll* thing from some family members but mostly my immediate family...husband and kids are truly supportive and in the end, that's what matters most. And yes, I'm totally WITH you on improving with each manuscript.I have a lot of books out there and hell, I'm still learning and improving. Let's hope that continues because we can never learn enough. I'm so proud of you. You are making an incredible journey. Sometimes 'life changes' happen just when we need them to.

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  4. Hi Regina, yeah, it is great when they GET it. I got a lot of harassment from a few people (family members...aren't they great...LOL). Thank you and I'm really glad to have you as part of my life now too!

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