In the beginning. . .

Writing has always been an integral part of my life. No matter where I've lived or what I was doing, writing has been a constant. I've been a student, an editorial assistant, and a ghostwriter (I've also worn many, many other hats); I've written short stories, poetry, essays, and novels; I'm a reader and an editor and a life-long learner. And now, I am an author.

I've recently come to discover that being a writer is not the same thing as being an author, and being an author is not necessarily the same thing as being a writer. There is a subtle difference that's difficult to put my finger on. I just know that when I published my first novel through Create Space and uploaded my manuscript to Kindle, something shifted in me. The writer became the author and my responsibilities changed as did my perspective on what having a book out there in the universe means.

It was hard letting Ripple go. I had no such trouble with Minshew the Dragon Dog or Thunder which were published at the same time. Launching Ripple, however, felt like I had lopped off a part of me and set it adrift on a barge to risk rapids or flaming arrows or even worse, dead calm. I had put a part of me out there to be picked clean or to be cherished or to be (please God) read. And then I waited. And I'm still waiting.

The next book jumped into my head pretty quickly. In fact, I've written two more novels since publishing Ripple last December. The first, The Plan, is a zombie thriller written specifically with my youngest daughter in mind. Her love of all things creepy and Scottish presented a challenge that I was happy to take on. (I'm still editing and hope to have a final product by Christmas.) And then Mary Margaret made her presence known and I wrote her story in A Solitary Life over the course of three weeks in late April and early May. This time, I recruited editorial and design assistance to put some polish on my ideas and to help me make that subtle shift from writer to author once again. A Solitary Life will go live on Kindle and Amazon.com on October 1.

Sometimes I think it's difficult to wear both hats at once: writer and author. For me, being a writer means countless hours sitting at my computer while the words flow and tumble. Being an author means hauling out the map and navigating unfamiliar terrain, meeting new people, and talking. As a writer, I can let my characters speak through me while I drink coffee and type. As an author, I have to speak for myself and my work and I have to have a plan for my books' journeys out in the world. And then eventually, I just have to let go and hope that I have set them on the right path. That's the hard part for me, letting go. Perhaps if I had a publisher, seeing them off would be easier, knowing that they are being chaperoned by a caring soul. But I'm trying to find another way to do this, to be a happy writer and a successful author. I'll let you know how that goes.