A is for Author

 Earlier this month, I arrived at the letter Z in my Alphabet Posts. As I neared the end of the alphabet, I began to consider what would I would write next. I didn't want to be redundant, but I was having fun with these alphabet-centric posts. 

So I decided to do them again.

Not the same ones, of course -- you've already read those, and they're too recent to be candidates for Way Back Wednesday posts. Since the first set of Alphabet Posts was Lisa-focused, this set will be author-focused. And what better place to start than my first book, Acting Assertively?

Except that I already did that in my inaugural Alphabet Post, making it apparent that the theme this time around would need to be broader than books. So, accordingly, A is for Author.

That would be me. :-)

1993, the year I started freelancing, was a momentous year for a number of reasons. I got engaged, started a new job, got married, moved into a new apartment, and had two surgeries (an in-office procedure and the removal of my gallbladder two days before Christmas). My first accepted article never got published. The magazine folded when the editor who ran the publication was in an accident her health made it impossible for her to continue with it. I was disappointed, but grateful to be on the right side of that equation when it came to health.

My first byline came in 1994 with a piece I wrote for Gifted Child Today entitled "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Perfection." In that funny way that life has of coming full circle,  a recent Google search for that piece led me to the website for the company whose textbooks I now use in my development classes. No, I don't get royalties for it there but yes, it's nice to see that it's still around after all these years, and even cited in academic research.

I got my first book credit in 1999 with Acting Assertively, which is now out of print. Diverse Divorce followed in 2004, emerging from a set of stories I'd begun as assignments in a course I was taking through The Institute of Children's Literature (now called The Institute for Writers). This combination creation was what led me to try my hand at fiction. 

The first novel I wrote emerged from those stories, too, becoming my middle grade novel, Jersey Girls Don't Rule. In between, I wrote a couple of columns for local publications as well as articles for regional and national publications, moving to online when that became a thing. (Yes, I started long before it was!) Along the way, I met a lot of amazing authors, and even got the opportunity to collaborate with a few of them. 

Jersey Girls Don't Rule

These days, I'm a hybrid author (and a blogger, obviously), with a mix of traditionally published non-fiction and self-published fiction. I've been a free agent, represented by a literary agent, then a free agent again. I'm both fascinated and frustrated by the way the publishing world has changed over time. It's both easier and harder than ever to get one's work into print. There are fewer magazines, but more websites and, while big publishers keep gobbling up the smaller ones, plucky little publishers, many of whom represent specific niches, still soldier on, making non-fiction books like mine possible (thank you, OSV!) Fiction, it seems, is more of a challenge, at least when it comes to traditional publishing.

Self-publishing, once the red-headed stepchild of publishing, has made it possible for everyone to be an author. Unfortunately, it hasn't made it possible for everyone to have a publicist, or to make a living writing books. Still, it offers authors a freedom not always available in traditional publishing, which is why so many authors choose to go the hybrid route. 

These days, I have multiple projects going (two non-fiction projects, two novels, an article or two and episodes of Jersey Girls Don't Rule  for Kindle Vella), which is pretty much the norm. The part of me that loves to learn is always interested in the latest and greatest ways to get my work out there, while the part of me that's past middle age wishes some of the technology was a little easier to figure out. All of this leads me to continue to take classes and attend workshops and conferences as much as I can, which enables me to not only sharpen my skills but also to connect with other creative people.

Though some days it's a struggle, I can't imagine not writing, but my experiences have taught me that I'm not the sort of person who can be a full-time writer. While I have a reasonably rich imagination, I need some real world inspiration to add spark to what I put on the page. In addition, teaching gets me out of my own head, which bodes well for my writing when I (finally) sit down to attend to it.

Thanks for being a part of my journey. I can't wait to share what comes next, whatever that may be.