When did you decide to become a author? By Connie Vines #Round Robin #Becoming an Author #BWLPublishing

 Topic: When did you decide to become an author, and what inspired you?

I'm not certain when I decided to become an author. I loved to read, ponder, and ask questions. Apparently, too many questions.

I was able to print my name, and my mother made sure I possessed a library card before I was enrolled in school.

Summers were spent with my paternal grandparents in the Texas panhandle. I recall sketching chickens and diligently noting that the eggs a chicken laid matched the color of the hen's ears (yes, chickens have ears).

I imagine my spelling was atrocious, but it mattered not because my story was proudly taped on the kitchen "ice box". 

I was a stay-at-home mom before my children enrolled in school. I worked from home (medical transcription, legal depositions, and deposition summaries).

My first published story was for a children's magazine, "Junior Medical Detective". I went on to publish in "Humpty Dumpty Magazine" and other children's/YA magazines, as well as other nonfiction magazines, before writing fiction novels.

I attended workshops and writing classes and toyed with the idea of writing fiction...but writing for children and writing for adults is more difficult than I realized. 

It's not only the topic, plot, sub-plot, and dialogue. It is sentence structure, word count, description, and emotions. It involves transitions, flashbacks, and the realization that you cannot force your "characters" to bend to your "will". It consists of writing, rewriting, and reminding yourself not to quit your "day job". 

I joined Romance Writers of  America and attended local meetings at the Orange County Chapter. We met at the Sizzler restaurant once a month (before moving to the Brea Library). I had wonderful mentors who looked over the first draft of my novel and encouraged me to make revisions. 😕 (Charlotte Lobb and Rita Rainville had red-penciled notes on my manuscript.) At the next meeting, I learned my novel was 50 pages too short. 😟

However, like all good stories, there was a HEA (happily ever after) ending to this story. My mentors, and my dear friend, Geeta (Kakade) Kingslesy, encouraged me until I succeeded. 😀

Did I stay on topic? 

I don't recall ever deciding to become an author. I memorized the oral histories told to me by my grandparents and great-grandmother. I observe the world around me. And I feel the unspoken emotions of those around me.  

And from this, the magic of an untold story begins...  

Happy Reading!

New this month, "Lynx" Rodeo Book 1 is available in audio. at Audioble.com 

https://www.amazon.com/Lynx-Rodeo-Romance-Book-1/dp/B0FK6RF75H/ref=sr_

For more adventures in writing, visit the talented authors participating in this month's blog:

Sally Odgers

Victoria Chatham

Anne Stenhouse

Connie Vines--You are here  :)

Diane Bator https://escapewithawriter.wordpress.com/ 

Bob Rich  https://wp.me/p3Xihq-3xy

Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea