Wednesday, February 15, 2012

A Leap of Faith


A Leap of Faith

That’s pretty much what retiring from my career of 34 years and start my professional life over as an author/publisher was. It was very difficult to make the decision to leave nursing as a long and varied career but I knew I had to change something in my life.

I had gotten older. My interests had changed, my goals had changed and even my physical ability had changed over the years. I couldn’t run the halls for hours on end as a trauma nurse any more. I had less interest in the real characters I saw everyday as my patients, involved in real life dramas and more interest in creating my own characters in dramas of my choosing. Even in worlds of my choosing.

So I took a leap of faith and brought to a close a 34 year long adventure in medicine to create adventures and crisis of my own, all of them with the happy endings I rarely got to see in real life.

In retrospect, I think that was one of the reasons I decided to write romance. I wanted the HEA I had a whole lifetime of seeing people miss more often that achieve. Loss and death are a big part of a trauma nurse’s daily life and it can take a toll. I found solace and encouragement in writing romance that no outside support system or group of friends offered. Writing was truly a leap of faith that I have never regretted.

So if you on the fence about your writing, or career path, or the color of your bedroom—trust your instincts and take the leap. You won’t be sorry you at least TRIED.

2 comments:

Judith Ashley said...

Lauara, so glad you took that Leap!

My background in social service work included child and adult protective services as well as geriatric case management and professional guardianship. Seeing the worst in how people treat another person as well as several deaths (clients and family) moved me from writing a self-help book to writing romance.

Much more fun! and I get to see success as my characters all learn something about themselves and relationships in order to find their HEA! Romance novels can show people ways to create their own HEA.

Sarah Raplee said...

Laura, your post makes perfect sense. Writing helps us to understand ourselves as well as our characters, doesn't it?