Four Things I Have Learned So Far

In participation of Sisters In Crime's Blog Hop I would like to share four things I have learned so far that has kept me in the top 10% of Amazon’s author ranking.

I reached the age of twenty-one when women’s liberation was ablaze. In 1967 I believed I could “bring home the bacon, fry it up in the pan and never, never let him forget he was a man”, because my mother taught me to be independent. At the age of eleven and with her encouragement I operated my own dog grooming business that supported me and my family over forty years. I never thought of being a woman as a stumbling block.  I was told, “Do the work and do it the best you can.”

 At the age of sixty-eight I have written three books each a different genre.   I write what I know. And what I don’t know I research until I know.

If I were to mentor a new writer, here is my advice to her (or him).

1.     Be honest with yourself. Write what you know that you know.

2.     What you don’t know, research and learn.

3.     Do your best. Write and rewrite, rewrite and rewrite.

4.     Work hard, write every day.

I heard somewhere that to be considered a professional in your field one must invest a minimum of 20,000 hours. I believe that to be true. Success does not happen overnight.

 

Please check out  Libby Grandy,  an author who is putting in the time. Libby will weave a tale you won’t want to put down.

And finally, don’t forget  my latest release, Masada's Marine, The Story of A Service Dog and Her Wounded Marine Warrior.

Every hour a veteran commits suicide.