A long, long time ago - half a century in fact - a funny little girl missing three front teeth decided that one day she would be a writer. It was all she wanted. When she was twelve, during a class discussion on future careers, she announced this - matter-of-factly - to a class of her peers. And later still, at fifteen, during a Careers Talk with the Careers Officer, she said it was what she wanted, was all she'd ever wanted and would always remain everything she ever wanted. That was me of course. And it is still an obsession, even after all this time.
Naturally, as with everything, you have to learn your craft. You have to take the blows that come with inevitable rejection slips, get back up and live to fight another day. You make mistakes and learn from them. You never ever ever lose sight of that dream - be it dancing, writing, sport, cooking, teaching. Whatever it is, if you know you want it, it will come.
Back in 2011, I was sitting in a library one day when this idea hit me - bam - right between the eyes. I took up my pen and began making notes right away. Those notes soon became the first draft of My Writer. It was written in an absolute frenzy in just over a month - at bus stops, on trams, in coffee shops, on tea-breaks, well into the night knowing I'd be getting up early the next day. This story was itching to be told. it had to be told.
Over the course of the next two years, it was rewritten again. And again. And right up until earlier this year it was being tweaked, prodded, encouraged, nurtured and enticed as I tried publisher after publisher, agent after agent. It wasn't as if I was a complete novice. I'd had two books published by a traditional publisher a year or two earlier and had a track record of published work twice as long as my arm. I was getting excellent feedback. An editor I sent it to said "This will be published." And yet here we are half way through 2014, I have just turned 57 and it remains unpublished. So I have taken it upon myself at last to actually self-publish it and I have decided to go with Publish Nation. Their website answers all the right questions, hits all the right notes and their prices are the best in the market place. There are some good testimonials and I have seen their books for myself so I know they are of good quality.
I have dabbled in self-publishing on a small scale before. Six poetry books - all of which sold really well in the locality. Plus the very first one I ever put together where I actually produced half a dozen copies on my little word processor and gave to people - and of course the Young Writers' book last year "Word Magic". With Publish Nation, of course, I will be going to a new level. The odd thing is that I have considered self publishing My Writer several times before but it never felt right. Now feels right so tomorrow I am going to read through it again just to make absolutely certain it is up to scratch and on Wednesday it will go over to David. I am about to boldly go where I have never been before. Wish me luck.
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