Need

I need to write . . . for a number of reasons. First, it feeds my soul. Second, if I'm going to be a full-time writer, I have to spend my time writing. That isn't easy right now, since so many things are pulling me in so many other directions. But my plan is to write full-time, by August of this year, so three years after I started my first book.

It's a daunting prospect. But I have an equally daunting list of books I want to write. There are the rest of the books in the Crested Butte Cowboy series, the final book in the Linger series . . . which could possibly lead to more books about our soon-to-be-favorite-FBI-guy, Cooper Prescott. There is the series set in the Central Coast Wine Country . . . combining my love of wine, art, music, and cowboys . . . I mean seriously, what could be better?

On top of that I have a couple spec books I want to write, under pseudonyms (yes more than one, maybe even as many as three!). 

Someone asked me yesterday if I would consider doing more ghost-writing and editing work. My answer was I would.

This week on CBS Sunday Morning, there was a segment about people doing something extraordinary in the latter part of their lives. I didn't see the whole segment, and then I accidentally deleted it. Maybe I can find it on their website. Anyway, in the preview they mentioned Grandma Moses . . . and others, but that's the only one I can remember. I'm not certain if the premise was something extraordinary; maybe it was more about people finding their passion, and it never being too late to do so. 

I am all about finding not only my passion, but my peace these days. What will bring me peace? I told Doug that if there was one word I wanted to be the keyword of the second half of my life, it would be peaceful. I'm striving for a sense of it. I also told him that I loved writing more than anything, and would like nothing better than to be able to do it full-time.

These last fifteen days have given me a glimpse of what that might look like. While my soaring sales have diminished greatly, there is still enough activity that I remain positive about it. If I could sustain the sales level of the last two weeks consistently, which would mean having a lot more books for sale, and doing a good job of promoting those books, I can make my dream a reality. 

My needs aren't much different than anyone else's. Find something you love to do, and spend your time doing it. For me that means doing my best to not allow myself to get sidetracked with things I don't love doing. It also means having the self-discipline to follow my dreams and the tenacity to stick with it. I'm ready.