Happy National Authors Day - My Writing Journey
WRITING JOURNEY
November is National Novel Writing Month and today being National Authors Day. So, I thought I would share with you my path of how I became an author.
I have always loved reading and writing and telling stories. Whenever I come across a really good book, I research the author to discover their writing journey. What is their inspiration? What was their track to getting published? I have constantly heard it is very difficult to get published by a large, international publishing company and even near impossible to write the next great American novel. Self-publishing is the way to go. That is not my way yet. I want to be as determined as J.K Rawling was with her first book.
My inspiration to be an author came when I read the Harry Potter books, not my genre but I had to find out what all the hype was about. I gave the first book a read and fell in love with the story, the characters, the style of writing and couldn’t wait to finish the first book so I could move on to the next one until I read all seven stories. What imagination and talent the author J.K Rowling has. But even more impressive, she never gave up her dream of writing Harry’s story, and she never gave up on getting her books published.
J.K. Rowling was a struggling single mom raising her son. It took her six years to complete the first Harry Potter book. The story goes that her agent submitted her manuscript to many publishers around the world and it was rejected by them all until Bloomsbury Publishing in the U.K. finally decided to print the book. A year later, the only publishing company in the U.S.A that was interested in the book for the U.S. version was Scholastics Publishing. All other U.S companies rejected the story. But she never gave up.
In the year 2000 I wrote and found an illustrator for my children’s book The Sun Jumped Over the Moon. See my blog dated February 15, 2026, for the genesis of that story and the journey of how that book came to life.
Also in 2000, I started to write a novel titled, Bella Suenos (Beautiful Dreams). An adventure romance based on the deep-sea fishing ventures I personally experienced mostly during the 1990s. I would write and rewrite that novel for years. It would sit on a shelf for months until my next fishing trip when I would pull it out to add another chapter to the story. I relocated from Michigan to Florida because of my passion for fishing in the deep blue ocean. I attended several classes in Deray Beach, FL at a local bookstore that hosted writing seminars for author wannbes. Various well-known published authors, who resided in south Florida were the instructors. The topics covered the entire spectrum of the writing process to getting published and selling the book. I received firsthand knowledge of how the business of writing operated.
When COVID hit in 2020, I broke my back. This ended my adventures of deep-sea fishing. So, I pulled the manuscript out of the closet, went to the beach every weekend and finally finished the story. The number one comment from the authors that gave the classes to future authors in that little town bookstore was the hardest part of being an author is letting your book go. To give it to other people to read, critique it, analyze it, and maybe even reject it. Your book is very personal. It’s your heart and soul. You want everyone to love it just like you do. Even knowing that intellectually, that is not possible. So, I went in to rewrite, rewrite and rewrite mode for a couple more years until I met a very successful author, Wade Rouse. He instructed me to stop rewriting the story. Send it off to agents and if there is an interest in the story line there will be many rewrites that will take place after the story has been sold to be printed.
In 2023 as I was finally getting ready to find an agent, I was asked to write the life story of Fr. Bob Caudill. A priest friend of mine who left the Miami Catholic Diocese and started the All Saints Catholic Mission/Soup Kitchen in Oakland Park, FL. Fr. Bob’s story is absolutely fascinating, and we are just about at the finish line of completing his book.
The children’s book, The Sun Jumped Over the Moon, was published in 2022. From that time forward, between writing my novel and Fr. Bob’s story, I promote the children’s book, do readings for the children in schools, libraries, and birthday parties. I also participate in marketing and charity events
In 2027 I will be submitting my novel and Fr. Bob’s story to agents for publication. I will also be starting my second book, title to be determined, based on the stories of when I was a guardian et Litem in Broward County, FL .
I still love to read and write, I write every day. Because of the book club I am a member of, it has opened my genre horizons which have sharpened and continues to grow my writing skills.
Until next Time
Kathy