To Write or not to Write, That is the Question

When I first started college, I was an enthusiastic journalism student.  I was so excited to take my first reporting class only to be taken down by a professor who took me aside half way through the semester and asked me if I was sure that being a journalist is what I really wanted to do.  He told me that he didn't have any doubt that I could write, it was my shy demeanor which was a red flag.  At the time, his words were a rude awakening, but after some soul searcher, I could hardly miss his point.

On the second day of class when the assignment was to go out and find a story and turn it in before the final bell, I was ready to hyperventilate.  I didn't have a problem coming up with an idea.  It was the talking part that was the problem.  What did I do?  I partnered up with a chatty classmate.  She did the talking and I did the writing.  Perfect partnership.

His words rang true and deep down I knew it which is why I switched to English and eventually found myself in the education program.  A few years of teaching in a needs district would help me overcome the hurdle of shyness and all the while I kept writing.  First children's stories since that was the area where I was working and finally into my first love, mysteries.

When I told my husband I wanted to write a novel, he smiled and said stick to what you know.  So my first character became a second grade teacher who solved mysteries on her free time to the complete embarrassment of her husband who happened to be an assistant District Attorney(my hubby is a lawyer).  After two novels and a couple of short stories, I moved on to a sentimental favorite, Russell Waverly.  Russell was inspired by my oldest son's love for garbage trucks.  He was four at the time.  Russell's high school sweetheart had gotten pregnant before college forcing him to forgo the scholarship for a job with the Department of Public Works.  The love of his love would die in childbirth, leaving him to raise his son with the help of family and friends.  In his spare time, Russell solves a mystery or two.  I love SECRETS, LIES, AND TRASH and hope to find a publisher for it as well as its Cape May sequel, WAVES OF DECEIT.

My newest character is probably nearest and dearest to my heart, Rainer Donovan.  The girl I would have liked to be back in the day if I wasn't so shy.  I just finished my first short story with her at the helm, HOLMES AND HANDCUFFS for First Line Magazine.  I hope they like it as much as I do and publish it.

If not, I'll keep plugging because that is what writers do.  We write, even if it's just to an audience of one.