Perseverance Is The Answer

Judith Ashley

As I sit down to write this month’s post, I’m almost able to cross off an item on my “To Do” list that’s been there for about ten years. It doesn’t really matter what the item is, what does matter is that I’ve kept it on my list and worked on making it happen. Time has passed. I tried several options until I found one that works. A small glitch today means it isn’t completed today but it will be done tomorrow, or at the latest early next week. What did I do over the years to finally reach my goal? I persevered.

As I’ve read the Genre-ista’s posts during the month of November, the stories of so many remarkable women were inspiring. Perseverance was one of the key attributes all of the women had. Staying the course, keeping on keeping on – real life mothers, grandmothers, aunts, real life women from history and then the women from fiction. Against remarkable, daunting, overwhelming odds (you get the picture) these women persevered.

An attribute worth cultivating if you are a writer is perseverance. This month our guests are all Self and Indie published romance authors. These are writers who not only persevered with their writing (they have completed stories ready to publish) but also took charge of their writing career and are doing what needs to be done to get their stories out there. In other words, they’ve called upon a double dose of perseverance.

Another important aspect of my life is my weekly call with my two Intention Sisters. One of them has also dubbed us her ‘Dream Team’. We check in with each other and offer support through brainstorming, ideas, or just listening as we each persevere in manifesting the life we want. January will mark the beginning of our 4^th year. An inveterate list maker, I still have my first list of Intentions one of which had to with being published. While I’ve yet to be published in book length fiction, I’ve several short, short stories on the Free Reads site. I’ve three completed manuscripts and the outlines for four more. I’m editing the completed manuscripts and look forward to 2013 when I send them back out into the wonderful world of publishing to see if the agents and editors who’ve requested my work are interested in representing me or publishing my stories.

As the years have unfolded, what I realize is that as long as I persevere, I have a chance to manifest my dreams. Life happens to all of us – little events and big ones but if we persevere, we can cross another item off our list.

And, last but not least, I believe that because of perseverance, I will be published in either 2013 or 2014. What about you? What role do you see perseverance playing in your life in general and your writing life in particular?

May 2013 see your dreams become your reality. Blessed Be.

Best-Seller Theresa Ragan's Self-Publishing Story

Three genres, two names, one author.

That’s the tagline I have on my website/blog. But in the beginning of my writing career, I never thought I would write anything but time travel romances. After reading Jude Deveraux’s A Knight in Shining Armor in 1992 I knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I wanted to write romance novels. For the next five years, I researched medieval times and wrote Return of the Rose. I was working full time and raising four children, but I knew I was a writer when nothing could stop me from getting the words to the page.

Having been told that Time Travels were dead, I decided to write a romantic comedy. I loved reading books like See Jane Score by Rachel Gibson and Nobody’s Baby But Mine by Susan E. Phillips. I was hoping romantic comedies would be the genre that would push me through the NY publishing doors. Three romantic comedies and a pile of rejections later, I decided to try my hand at romantic suspense. I loved reading Lisa Gardner and Stephen King. Why not?

I had finaled in RWA’s Golden Heart six times by then and I had signed with my second agent. We almost sold Finding Kate Huntley to Grand Central. Close, but no cigar. Frustrated, I decided to write a romantic thriller so I could kill off a few characters and my frustrations at the same time.

When I finished ABDUCTED (T.R. Ragan), I felt that this book was special. It was bigger and better. I had little if any feedback from writers and/or contests. It was all mine. Writing is like playing an instrument. Practice makes you better, and in my case, faster.

My journey as a writer has been a long one. I had read many how-to books and I knew this was not going to be an easy career path when I started out. I celebrated my first rejection letter because I had read about many popular authors who had wallpapered a small bathroom with rejection letters. I just didn’t think it would be THIS hard. As I waited for ABDUCTED to be read by my agent, I read the first book I had written and decided it was time to give self-publishing a shot. My fourth and youngest child was going off to college, and, for financial reasons, the pressure was on to get back to work full-time. I needed a “real” job that pays.

With no time left and nothing to lose, I self-published my two medieval time travels. Instead of selling ten books, I sold thousands. I couldn’t believe it. I still can’t believe it. After all these years, I felt like an overnight success. I am having the time of my life. Everything really does happen for a reason. Perseverance really does pay off. Dreams really do come true.

If I could give one piece of advice to every person out there who dreams big like I do, it would be to work hard every day and never ever stop believing in yourself.

 GIVEAWAY!  Theresa is giving away a print book of either ABDUCTED or RETURN OF THE ROSE (the choice is yours) to ONE lucky commenter. All you have to do is leave your email address along with your comment. 

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'The writing will teach you'

‘The writing will teach you...’

In high school, I wanted to be a lawyer and perhaps go into politics. Of course, as a teenager, I also intended to be rich and slender.

I didn’t go to law school and now shudder at the idea of a life in politics. The odds are also pretty slim that I’ll ever make any “wealthy” or “best body” lists.

Regrets? Not a one. Well, only if I could somehow have the rich/thin option while still being a writer who adores every dessert known to womankind.

I switched from Political Science to Journalism during my freshman year at Northwestern University, shortly after my boyfriend’s best friend complimented my writing and suggested the possibility. The truth is I’d never considered writing as a career option, even though I’d always loved writing—well, at least, making up stories. (Thank you for the nudge, Bob.)

I guess the storytelling/drama gene ran in our family. Whenever my Aunt Kate tucked my sister and me in at night, she recited Macbeth as our bedtime story complete with plunging dagger scenes. I loved it. I also have a vague grade-school recollection of how much fun it was to dream up a fairytale that explained how a Frenchman, Dan de Leon, wound up as a weed (dandelion). Throughout elementary school, one of my favorite activities was to join neighborhood kids in our spooky basement where we conducted make-believe séances and tried to scare the pants off each other. And I always, always loved to read.

Shortly after switching to journalism major, I landed an intern gig at Medallist Publications and started earning money as a writer. I’ve made my living as a writer ever since. Mostly I’ve penned nonfiction. (I’m taking the liberty here of describing ad copy as nonfiction.) My anything-for-a-buck assignments have run the gamut—speeches for executives, newsletters and brochures, feature magazine articles for business, trade and travel magazines, website pages, billboard slogans, ad campaigns, Help documentation, etc. For the most part, I really enjoyed my assignments and never paused to consider authoring a book.

One day I was approached about writing an “as-told” book by some folks who had an intriguing story but lacked any notion of how to share their experiences. So I interviewed and researched, outlined their book, and wrote the opening chapters. We landed a well-known New York agent. Then, boom, my “clients” accepted a large settlement to keep mum on the material at the heart of the work-in-progress. They canceled the project. My efforts didn’t earn me a penny. But I’m oh-so-glad I accepted the challenge. It gave me confidence. Yes, I really could write a novel. It also convinced me that any future book-length project would be pure fiction, and a solo effort. Going forward, I would be the only one to pull the plug on a novel in progress.

At this point, I felt pretty smug. I took a fiction-writing course through the University of South Carolina-Beaufort, and I assumed I’d be the class star. After all, I’d been writing for years. As I recall my classmates included a lawyer and a veterinarian, a librarian and a retired FBI agent. The opening chapters of their books blew me away. I was humbled. They weren’t just GOOD. They were very, very good. That’s when I realized that people in all occupations have compelling stories to tell and active imaginations. Journalism training or even an MFA degree (which I don’t have) aren’t publishing guarantees. I learned that many of my contemporaries were quite capable of creating beautiful imagery and writing vivid passages.

If I wanted to publish, I realized I had to expect stiff competition and I’d better do all I could to master the craft.

Years have passed since I took that introduction to fiction-writing course. Did any of my classmates ever finish the novels they started? Most don’t. Or they shove their manuscripts under the bed after a few rejections. Life goes on.

Brewster Milton Robertson taught that fiction course, and the first thing he wrote on the blackboard was “the writing will teach you.” Now I think I fully understand what he was trying to communicate. If you want to be a writer, you must be driven to keep writing. With each passage you write, you learn something new about the process...about what fails and what works...what captures attention...which words are essential and which are excess baggage.

Being a writer means you keep writing through harsh critiques and rejections through spells where your muse takes a hike. You keep writing because you love it and you love what it teaches you about your craft and yourself.