My Stories' Story

One of the questions most frequently asked of authors is, ‘what made you start writing.’ It’s also one of the most difficult to answer because, for me, writing is something of an addiction. I’m not sure why I became addicted, and I’m not sure if I’ll ever be cured, but one day I simply had to write a book. So I sat down with a spiral notepad and filled up the pages with gibberish. To be quite honest, I had read a romance novel by a best selling author, decided it wasn’t very good, and became certain I could do as well.

As it turned out, I was terribly mistaken. But I didn’t know that until I’d finished my manuscript. I always thought that once I had done so, I’d be able to move on…do other things…laundry perhaps. But after the first draft was completed I realized some of the mistakes I had made and thought I could do better. So I rewrote it, secure in the knowledge that, once it was finished I’d be ‘normal’ again. But by the time the thing was typed I was totally hooked. I bought The Writers Market, started sending my work out and joined the local RWA branch. I also organized a critique group and began another novel.

But getting published was not an easy task for me. It was a long, painful and ugly process. I can’t tell you how many times I swore I’d quit. In fact, my husband finally said, “I think you should quit. Then, when people ask, we’ll say, yeah she was pretty good, but she’s kind of a quitter.”

But I’m getting ahead of myself. The reason I sold my first book, Surrender My Heart, was because Susan Sizemore was a golden heart finalist and she was one of my critique sisters. Therefore, I HAD to go to New Orleans to the RWA conference to cheer her on. And it was there that I met Ellen Edwards, senior editor at Avon Books. She sat down beside me at the opening ceremony and asked if I was a writer, if I sent my work out and who I sent it to. I said, “Yes, yes,” and “you.” At which point she got a sort of deer in the headlights expression on her face and swore to read my manuscript. Six months later I got a call from her publishing house. They were interested, but wanted to make sure the manuscript was still ‘available’ before they finished reading it. In my excitement I’m afraid I may have asked, “Available for what?” In retrospect, I’m not sure what I was thinking. Bird cages? Fire starting? To make a long story somewhat shorter, they promised to get back to me in two weeks. A month went by before I got the call.

But sixteen years, 30 novels of various kinds, and 150 rejections later, I’m an overnight success. Well, okay, I’m an overnight…wannabe success. But I’m still plugging away. To me, tenacity is all important. In fact, I kept this Calvin Coolidge quote above my desk for years.

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

So how about you? What’s the magic ingredient that makes your dreams come true?

www.loisgreiman.com