Q: When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?

A: I realized I wanted to be a writer when people starting releasing ebooks electronically. Authors are no longer tied to traditional publishing methods. Since my website, WomanSavers.com, the world’s largest database rating men, is such a popular site and has so many subscribers, I knew I had a strong platform to market my ebook; and I could keep 100% of the profits with no overhead costs. That meant win-win to me.

Q: How and when did you make this dream a reality?

A: I started writing content and articles in late 2002 when I launched WomanSavers.com. Thereafter, I began writing cartoon comedy ecards for women that would sometimes be a spoof on a variety of songs and I would sing and reword them. I had tons of fun doing that. I started writing my book, S*x, Lies & the Internet, An Online Dating Survival Guide (http://www.womansavers.com/ebook/online-dating-infidelity-book.asp) in 2006. It took me over a year to write and design all the custom graphics, but there is nothing quite like it out there. It is full of great tips teaching women how to screen their dates. It also shows women how to avoid being scammed, used and abused by men.

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Q: When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?

A: I knew I wanted to be a writer in elementary school after completing a fourth and fifth grade project to write, illustrate, and bind your own book. I would go home and create books in my free time. I thought it was the best thing I’d ever been taught. I continued to write on and off in my teens–poetry, mostly–but became more serious about writing prose when I reached my late 20’s.

Q: How and when did you make this dream a reality?

A: I had been working on a young adult novel for 5 years, and had completed it at whopping 1100 pages. After working with an editor on it, I realized I needed to get some distance from it; and I put it on the shelf, for now. I needed a fresh project. I decided I wanted something that was new, uncomplicated and fun. After visiting with my little cousin, Laura for weeks, I knew I had found the character for the children’s book I wanted to write. It took about 4-5 months to complete Laura and the Leprechauns–the majority of the time being spent on illustrations. So, I’d have to say that the year of 2007 was when everything really came together for me as a writer as far as making my dream a reality.

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Q: When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
A: I felt I was a writer from about the age of 12. I loved to read and wanted to put words on paper that others would find illuminating and enjoyable. I was fortunate to have teachers who told me that I was a good writer and encouraged me to pursue it.

Q: How and when did you make this dream a reality?
A:I put great effort into every opportunity I had to write — letters, school assignments, school newspapers, essays. I also wrote funny short stories and some poetry. I published my first book in 2004 and that was a thrill for me.

Q: What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned so far in your writing career?
A: I believe it’s very important to keep writing and continually fuel your imagination. Drink in everything that stimulates emotions and thoughts. There’s a story or valuable eye-opening idea to share in just about everything. Write it down for now or future reference because otherwise it may be lost to you.

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Q: When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
A: It was something that lay beneath the surface for many years since I was young. I always enjoyed writing, but never saw it as something I would use as an expression of the artist in me. For years, I had been editing papers for my college friends, composing letters and other correspondence for family.

Q: How and when did you make this dream a reality?
A: I discovered in my 40’s that not writing, not expressing my art was no longer something I could suppress. I took the leap and attended my first writer’s conference, and that was it. I took classes, attended workshops and conferences to meet the goals I had set for myself, to find my voice, to improve my craft, and to become a published author.

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Q: When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?

A: First grade was filled with those interminable “Dick and Jane Readers” (see Dick, see Jane, see Spot), and I longed for something more exciting. In third grade I discovered Little House on the Prairie, and I was determined to one day replace Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books in the school library with my own. That didn’t happen–but my professional career got a jump-start in fifth grade when the Paso Robles Press ran my write-up of our class field trip on page two.

Q: How and when did you make this dream a reality?

A: As a young mother, between burps and naps and diapering, I wrote short stories. But it was during a road trip to Oregon in 1994 that I began conceptualizing a romance of the Oregon Trail. I joined a writer’s group with a critique group that met every two weeks, and I produced a new short story for every meeting. By 2001, I had a shoebox half filled with rejections, and forty publishing credits–short stories and essays. I began attending writing conferences, entered contests and won a few awards, paid Catherine Ryan Hyde to edit my novels, and paid attention. I read two dozen books on writing, and filled a notebook with notes. I met a publisher who asked me to collaborate on an anthology project and learned a lot about the publishing business. I keep reading and writing, and each project seems to get better. So true, that writing is a process not an event.

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