Writing is the easy part

My writing addiction didn’t begin with a bang.  It started with a whimper.

 C‘mon, try a dose.  You’ll love it!

• 1979:  A mail-order course on writing books for children.
• 1983-84:  Two writing courses in college.

I have to admit, the 2nd writing course taken in 1984 was — to be kind — awful.  The instructor loved poetry and we were assigned a book to read during the first week of class.   He asked what we thought of the book. 

No one dared answer, so I raised the book in my hand and said, “I can’t believe a tree died for this.”

Daydreaming during a boring meeting needled me into a full-fledged craving to write out my pain.

I was on a committee in 1996.  The Chair insisted upon discussing minutes from our last meeting — for an hour!  No, I don’t remember anything about a discussion so boring that it could have been marketed as a cure for insomnia.  

My daydream:   Counselors once guided the CEO of a corporation that ran the world.  The name was shortened to “Counsel” when the remnants of civilization no longer understood their true purpose.  The fate of Royce and his family (including his father, Ray) are on the line, while Counsel members argue over the minutes.  Royce is close to killing everyone in the room

Royce said, focusing on the faces of Counsel members, “In all the Counsel meetings my father dragged me to, you’ve accomplished little more than voting on the minutes.  Why can’t you stop to think!  Who makes the actual decisions?  Who does the actual work?”

“Royce, you have not been recognized by the chair to speak,”  Garren ordered as he hit the table with his gavel.

“Why?  Are you afraid of the truth?  The real truth?”  Royce roared, facing the chair.  He instinctively put his hand where his sidearm should have been.  Ray jumped slightly.

 “If it means that much to you to prattle on, then we will just consider it the entertainment portion of our meeting,”  Garren said.

©Joelle LeGendre (just in case someone doesn’t understand that everything on the blog is ©)

I sent my first draft to a manuscript editor and remember the one sentence that began a 10 year search:  “This isn’t where the story begins. Find the back story.”

Writing a 20-book series was the easy part.  Finding a reliable editor, cover creator, interior design and marketing partner has been a challenge.

Joining ALLI didn’t happen soon enough.  I highly recommend ALLI to anyone wanting to publish a book.   It is well worth the cost of membership.

Wish I’d joined sooner. 

Over the past 8 years, I’ve spent more to have 3 books published than 6 months of salary earned from my day job.  

Unfortunately, their approved full-service options cost more than open heart surgery. 

Writing may be the world’s healthiest addiction, but the cost of an excellent Indie partner is going to be the death of me.