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My first book ‘Alaskan Bride’ was a traditional romance. I was in awe of what I’d accomplished. Full of confidence, I entered a large writing contest  And my work was, let’s put it bluntly, decimated. Determined, and with a clearer understanding of what I needed to work on, I pressed onwards.

My second book ‘Meeting at Midnight’ was supposed to be  romantic-suspense. The love story was intriguing, the suspense was non-existent. Ah well! Moving along.

My writing group kept mentioning ‘write a book of the heart’. And so I did. And ‘One Last Time’ was created. But what was it anyway? I finally decided the novel was women’s fiction. While writing, I discovered my eight year old character Annie. Finally, I was having fun.  She was bright, challenging and argumentative. I loved her.

Feeling I had momentum, I wrote ‘Grandpa and Me’ , a middle grade novel. It was sweet and full of childhood adventures. I still believe it has potential.

Then, I began my YA series, LIAR and ALMOST PERFECT. I continue to have a good time writing young people as they confront the complexities of their lives. The YA writing community is supportive and the authors have a great sense of humor. And in this business, humor is essential.

I love reading about famous writers and the convoluted paths they’ve followed to publication. John Grisham’s first book ‘A Time to Kill’ was released by a small New York publisher. The print run was 5,000 copies. Grisham bought 1,000 copies and organized his own book tour. His wife and a fellow attorney were his first readers.

Today he has sold more than 245 million copies of his 22 books. He states, “When I started writing in the fall of ’84, I had no idea what I was doing, but I was motivated for all of the right reasons. I had a story to tell and I wanted to see whether I could tell it.” (USA Today- June 22, 2009)

And I feel the same way.

What has your writing journey been like so far?