This is my plan.
A few writer friends are getting their novels formatted, showing off their cover art, looking for final beta readers (omega readers?) and asking if I want to be included in acknowledgements.
While I won’t be so patronizing as to suggest it’s like watching the birth of a baby, it is, to me, a special miracle. My writer friends are normal people, living day-to-day, raising kids, paying bills, frustrated by annoyances, and they’re doing what they’re compelled to do, share their stories.
It’s inspiring, motivating.
I’m an imitator, not an innovator. Some ideas don’t even occur to me. I never really thought much about getting published because I knew that impressing an agent and getting accepted by a publishing house would take a LOT of letter writing, and frankly, that was going to take too much time that could be spent living. It wasn’t the story writing that daunted, it was the begging-for-attention writing that put me off.
Now we’re in the age of self- and e-publishing. It’s a magical time, miraculous time. Yes, it means there’s a lot of badly written stuff out there, blemished, un-edited slogs through bad spelling and even worse grammar. They might be excellent stories, but only the truly undaunted reader will persevere and know.
I’m not deluded, I know I won’t appeal to a large number of readers, but I am doing my best to make my stories readable and enjoyable.
So this is my goal.
Write, publish, repeat.
As often as I can.
Please bear with me while I work myself up to that level of bravery. 😀