Fire in the Belly

In the Beginning . . .

When I first started writing novels with the intent of getting published (I wrote a few experimental stories when I was a pre-teen and teenager), I was obsessed. That's a good thing. Before you are published, you should be living, breathing, and dreaming about writing and getting published. I would work a full day at my "real" job as a newspaper reporter and then go home and sit at my dining room table and write until one or two in the morning. I stopped for dinner and bathroom breaks. That's it. Weekends were all about writing.

By doing this, I was able to complete several romance novels and they were all eventually published. True, I had no social life, but I had a plan. The plan was to be able to quit my journalism job and become a full-time novelist. I accomplished this eight years after graduating from college.

I actually wrote a novel in seven days. It was published. No, I won't tell you which one!

Today? Well, I couldn't write a novel in a week anymore, but I still have a fire in my belly and stories swimming in my head. I write 10 pages a day on top of my freelance writing work and my work with a local dog/cat rescue organization.

Sometimes novice writers who have received a number of rejection slips ask me, "Do you think I should just quit writing?"

I tell them, "If you are seriously asking me that question, then yes, you should quit because a writer who must write would never ask that of anyone."

Write well. Write often. Keep the fire burning.