Wednesday, July 13, 2011

I Am A Writer

Admittedly, I haven’t always loved to read and write.  In fact, it wasn’t until just a few years ago that I even incorporated those things into my regular daily routines.  But now, I can’t imagine my life without them and I feel like I’m constantly playing catch up with all the great books out there that I have yet to read and all the stories floating around in my head that I have yet to write.

Before the summer of 2008 I could count on one hand the number of complete novels I’d read for pleasure.  I never thought I had enough time to read and never really found anything I enjoyed enough to finish.  Then my best friend insisted I read a book that she loved and knew I would love it too…and she was right.  I couldn’t put it down.
The book happened to be the first in a series and I rushed right out to buy the whole set.  But when it ended I felt this incredible sinking feeling like I’d lost someone or something that had been so dear to me.  I called my BFF and told her how upset I was and you know what she told me…

“Read another book.”
And so I did.

As I mentioned in a previous post, a tragedy in my life caused me to write my first novel, but this also happened around the same time I had begun reading more.  Those events collided in a way that changed my life so much it’s hard to express the magnitude of that change here in this one short blog.  But the other day while visiting with my brother he asked me why I didn’t do a certain hobby I used to and my husband chimed in, “Because she’s a writer.”
That was it, I am a writer.  It was the first time my husband had said it that way, so simple yet so profound.  I am a writer.  I may not be as great at it as (insert name of your favorite writer here), but I am a writer.  And while I don’t earn an income yet from my writing, my day job is no longer the correct response to the question ‘What do you do?’ the correct response is…

I am a writer.
Are you?

1 comment:

  1. I first fell in love with reading on about 4th grade. Up to that point I had been behind in my reading level. My mom says it was like pulling teeth to teach me to read. Then I picked up The Box Car Children. I have loved reading ever since.

    I am a writer too. I remember writing a story for a contest around the same time. But I have been a storyteller my whole life.

    I loved your post!

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