I love that quote by Richard Bach. The quote is attributed to him, he uses that line a lot, although he states he didn't actually make it up. Either way, I love the quote and I like Richard Bach, so I'll give him credit. And yes, if anyone ever asks me to speak about the writing process, I will quote Bach, because it's true. I'm finally going to be a published author, the team at She Writes Press is designing cover ideas as I write this post. My book will be published and out there very soon. And the reason that I will finally be a published author is because I didn't quit. Tenacity! This has been a ten year process. It began at a bookstore, while I sat with my son Lukas, who was 12 at the time, having coffee and leafing through a stack of self-help books. He asked why I hadn’t written my own book. He said that I had been telling him that stuff in those books for years, and that I shouldn’t be reading other people’s work, but writing my own. I felt like a deer in headlights! If I didn’t start writing, I felt like my own sons would doubt what I had been saying for years:
Follow your dreams! You can do it!
Not to mention it would be a kind of betrayal to myself. So in early 2006, I started writing. Since then, there have been many permutations. I've felt despondent, hopeless, frustrated and very close to giving up. But I didn't. When I felt close to throwing in the towel, I asked for help and advice; I put the book away for awhile; I read inspiring blogs about resilience and happiness and gratitude until I felt inspired to focus on it again. And I kept on going. Ultimately it's down to tenacity. Don't give up! A fitting, if rather whimsical closing - I'll leave you with Bruno Mars singing Don't Give Up - with the Muppets.