Stella Marie Alden Day 2

People often ask me, what made you start writing a book?
The real answer is probably deep in my subconscious, but at a very high level this is how
I remember it happening. I was trying to pinch pennies, as another college payment was coming
due, and I saw a bill arrive of over a hundred dollars on my credit card reserved for kindle
purchases. Oh my God. This has to stop. Obviously I’d become addicted to those juicy morsels
that helped me fall asleep, and escape for a few minutes a day. I’m a fast reader. I sucked those
babies down faster than a whole sleeve of Girl Scout Thin Mints.
What to do. What to do. Maybe, I thought, if I tried to write in the morning, instead of
read for an hour, I could save a few bucks. How hard could it be and who would care? It’s not
like I was ever going to let anyone read one. It was just a way to settle my mind for an hour in
the morning. I have a tendency to obsess, and reading was my way of chilling out.
I swear to God, that is how I started writing. Then, as a lark, I decided to send one into a
RWA contest to see if it was any good at all. I placed on my first try. Excited, I entered a few
more, made some more changes, wrote another book, and another, and even won a few
contests.
Someday I will blog about some of the comments I got. Believe me, I have some doozies.
During this time, I started to imagine myself a writer. I bought a few books and got really
serious about self-editing, and more self-editing. The last contest I won, Cynthia Brannam, from
Soul Mate Publishing contacted me and read the full manuscript. Was I interested in signing?
Well, I was, but I had some serious fears. I knew nothing about marketing. How would I
ever sell my book? What was I getting myself into? One thing I have learned in life is never to
let your fears hold you back, in fact, just the opposite. If you fear something, walk right up to it,
and spit it in the eye.
I said yes to Soul Mate Publishing for three books. I said yes to marketing, to advertising,
and to meeting a whole new group of people and a new life.
I will sell my book, I will get good at marketing, and I will write more and more, until I
can eventually make a living at it because I have some important stuff to say. I want to show
how strong women can be despite adversity. I want women to put down my books, sigh, and
truly believe that there is happiness out there, right within their grasp. Then sleep soundly, and
wake up, and make whatever changes I have inspired for them to become.