Be Proud

I presume that, if you’re reading this, you’re a writer. If you’re a reader only and wondering what’s going through my mind, hey, that’s awesome, too.

Writing has been a very interesting journey for me. It’s a journey I’ve been on for thirty-one years (remember, I started writing in the third grade, and I haven’t really stopped), and it’s a journey I can’t imagine not being on. Yeah, I’ve held a variety of jobs since I became of legal working age – writer gotta eat and pay bills, too – but writing has pretty much been life, whether or not I realized it upon graduating high school.

This morning, as I was waiting for one of my Amazon pages to load (I watch Amazon like a hawk but forget I have published on other platforms, too), I’d wondered briefly if my dad was proud of me. Not my mother (I live with her; while she’s not stated as much, I know she’d probably rather I focused on something other than writing as a lifetime career, but she’s also accepting the fact I’ve chosen it, I’ve stuck with it, so . . . I don’t know actually know if she’s proud of me for pursuing this, but then I’ll be addressing that in just a moment) but my dad. I haven’t seen my dad since I left Michigan (again) at the end of August 2015. We’ve talked, but I’ve not made a special trip up to see him (as a server, I’m constantly broke).

I’d wondered for a brief moment if he was proud of me then decided it didn’t matter if he was or wasn’t at this point. Just like it doesn’t matter if my mother is proud of me. I am proud of myself. If I’d listened to everyone who had given me advice on when to take the first publishing step, I would never have taken that first publishing step. The “you’ll never make it as an author; they don’t earn a lot” sayings? Yeah, those could have held me back.

And, yes, I do need to work while I build up my bibliography, but I also need to build up my bibliography. So I’m proud of myself for taking a step in publishing. When it comes to writing, I will know upon my deathbed that I took that chance upon myself, and I will know the outcomes of that chance when that time comes.

So, if you’ve taken that chance, be it to get the words down, to query an agent/publisher, or to self-publish, be proud of yourself as well. Because no one else in this world be as proud of you for taking that chance on yourself as you will be.

Now I’m off to work more on Ravensrealm. Some of my characters are going to be in for a shock!