Words I Aspire To by Paty Jager

This month is about quotes. I only have a few that have inspired me and that I try to live up to. 

"If your dreams don't scare you, they're too small."  Richard Branson

I write stories about Indigenous characters and try to show their culture and values to my readers. I have admired Native Americans for many years and want to share the injustices they have suffered and how they have strived to fit in while also keeping their heritage and in many cases, proving they own this land and it will not be taken from it. 

In writing these stories, because I am not indigenous, I don't always understand everything I need to, but I reach out and try to find people who can instruct me. 

"If you don't risk anything, you risk even more." Erica Jong

Years ago, while taking an adult ed class from COCC (Central Oregon Community College) on writing, the instructor said, "If you don't believe in your writing, no one else will." I took her quote and lived by it. When other writers were talking about using a pen name, and why, I decided what I wrote should have my name on it. And so, I go by my real name. I also knew when I had a good story and when one needed more work. I strive to make sure the stories/books I put out are the best I can write. I also believed that if I didn't share the stories with agents and editors, I would never get published and if I didn't share with other writers, I would never learn how to write better. 

My own personal quote-

"You can't change the past. But you can change the future-- work toward that goal."

Everyone has things in their past that they wish hadn't happened. But you can't change them. You can only use those bad things to make sure you don't make the same mistakes, or you aren't put in the same situation. Every day I am thankful to be the age I am. We lost my mother at the young age of 54 to cancer. Each year that goes by and I am older than 54, I know I am blessed. There are other darker things that have happened to me that I don't dwell on. I just write stories about injustice and give my characters closure and justice. I move forward, thankful for my family, my friends, and my fans who keep me motivated to keep writing and staying sane. 

Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 50+ novels, 8 novellas, and numerous anthologies of murder mystery and western romance. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it.

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