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Me & HudsonIt’s Tuesday and with an entire week to go, I’m already spent. Yes, me hearties, this week is already off to a rollicking start after a full weekend watching my grandson. He’s 15 months of wonderful! Nothing more special than watching a child grow and learn, is there? Especially one who’s learning to love pirates as much as Mimi does. Yes, he often looks like one. Mimi buys him pirate clothes! (Pirate!)

But I digress…

So while I was helping my oldest daughter out with her wee one, my uber talented cover artist at EsKape Press created the book cover for MY LORD ROGUE, the prequel novella for my Nelson’s Tea Series. Woot!!!! I got to see the mock-up and it’s fantabulous!!! Can’t wait to reveal it to you as soon as I get the okay from my editor. Huzzah!!!Lierin & Hudson

Meanwhile, edits for MY LORD ROGUE came in this weekend too. So you guessed it. I’ve been meeting myself coming and going for the past five days. (Hand flail!) But I wouldn’t have it any other way. After struggling to get published for so long, I don’t mind my hectic schedule.

How long have I struggled? Well, considering I started writing in 1992, on and off again while my four children were growing up, and then didn’t write seriously until 2005, this fork in the road I’ve chosen to walk has taken a good deal of time. In 2005, my youngest started High School. In 2012, one of my books made it to publication at Crimson Romance. (When my youngest was almost ready to graduate from college!) That’s lot of time spent wondering if a dream would ever happen, isn’t it? That’s a lot of writing contests, bad critiques, and rejections to stomach. But did I stop? No. Did I want to? A resounding yes!

What kept me going? A network of encouraging friends and this: Winston Churchill’s quote, “Never, never, never, never, never give up.”

I’ve been on the struggling side of publishing and I still feel like I struggle. Strange, isn’t it? Success involves grit and determination, moving forward when every fiber of your being tells you to stop. Success, begins inside YOU! Believe to receive, not the other way around. Believe when all else fails: in your strength, your will, your desire to push on. Believe that you WILL climb the next rung in the ladder and the next and the next, without falling, without looking down. Keep your eyes on the prize, on that coveted horizon. Keep your mind trained on goals, knowing that every step often involves two steps back. Whether you write 50 words a day or 1,000, keep writing. Rinse. Repeat. Each step, each word, brings you closer to your goal, whether that’s watching your child graduate from college or writing The End. 🙂

Putting my writing career on hold while I raised my kids was one of the best things I ever did. Though it’s taken me a long time to reach my dream, little things every day remind me that it was all worth it. My relationship with my children and grandchildren will be with me always. The blood, sweat, and tears of sacrifice aren’t visible on a pretty book cover. Nor are the stains visible on the pages my stories are revealed. But they are written on my heart. And my heart reaches out to you today.

It’s never too late to have a dream. Do it BIG! Make a plan. Follow your dream and make it come true!

Blessings,

Katherine