My Writing Journey
By Abby L. Vandiver
Having the life of your dreams, including having a job that excites you, is probably not a dream you can hope to come true. Sure some people are lucky, but many don’t get to do it. They just don’t get to follow their passion and do the things that satisfy them. Passionate people are happy people. There are moments, I’m sure you’d agree, when you slip away and do the things you love—read, bake, travel. Moments we look forward to. Moments we cherish. But many aren’t able to find that same satisfaction in our jobs.
Like many people in search of doing something they enjoyed, I’ve done a lot of things in my life—work-wise. When I was young I had dreams of being an actor, a teacher and a pediatrician, while I did teach for a few years, I never did realize those dreams. It seemed that I was never satisfied with the path my life was going and kept switching up. Finally, I decided I wouldn’t ever be passionate about what I did for a living. That is until now.
It took me getting sick—nearly bedridden for more than four years—to realize what it was I enjoyed doing. Writing. Sometimes I guess, you just have to stand still instead of chasing things down to find out where you belong in life. Although, in hindsight, I realized that in all of my endeavors throughout my life, I have always been drawn to jobs where writing was a big part of the position. And I see that I was always good at it. (It would have been nice to have realized that about myself long ago, I could have been on my writing journey so much earlier!)
When I first started writing I was ill and it took my mind off of how sick I was. It took my mind off of all the tests and hospitals stays and the worry of what was wrong with me (it took doctors four years to figure it out). I don’t talk much about it or share my illness, other than to say that’s when I started writing, but it was a turning point in my life that I’m sure I will always remember.
Writing came easy for me. At first, I did it just for something to do but then I wanted to share my work with others. Online retailers like Amazon made it super easy to upload a manuscript and get my book out into the world. And after my first book was published, I found I enjoyed sharing my work with readers and learning from the feedback I was received.
As a self-published author, I penned more than fifteen books (and hope to write more). Transitioning to a traditionally published author took no talent of mine. Many authors have to query (and query and query), but thank the lucky stars I didn’t. Henery Press, a small cozy mystery publisher, saw my independently published book, Bed & Breakfast Bedlam, and asked would I do a three-book deal with them. I didn’t hesitate (well, maybe for a moment while I was jumping around with excitement). Next, before my first traditionally published book was released, a literary agent contacted me for representation.
It seems that my passion found me.
It’s been a fun ride and now I have a new cozy out published by Penguin called A Deadly Inside Scoop. Hope you’ll check it out. It’s a cozy with ice cream and of course murder!
