My vision of a writer was someone sitting at a typewriter, repeatedly pulling a page out of the carriage and throwing the crumpled pages in thetrash because of a mistyped sentence or idea.
I’m one of those folks who never thought I was a writer but had a story to tell. My comfort zone was a piano bench. I began playing when I was 9 years old, and played by ear; if you hummed it, I could play it. Now, my piano bench has become a writer’s pen. I didn’t stop playing; I added writing to my achievements list.
There is a book in all of us. Writing your life historyis a legacy for your children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and you learn a lot about yourself. These stories will be lost if you don’t write them down. Begin typing your thoughts, and before long, you have a book. I was 73, so age is not a deterrent.
Each year, on Valentine’s Day, my friendsencouraged me to write a condensed version of theevents of my love story. My husband and I met andfell in love in 1958, but a returned letter separated us. Fifteen years later, while miles apart, we found our way back to each other, and seven months later,we married. During those months of dating, he wrote me the most beautiful love letters and captured my heart.
The impossibility of finding each other again in a world without technology or the Internet was a stroke of luck. With over 450 miles separating us, we knew getting back together without a Google app was a “God thing.”
In 2015, I was devastated by the loss of my husband. He was my life! To find comfort in my grief, I began reading the hundreds of 45-year-old letters, and yes, I had kept them all. As I read them, I realized I had many memories to write down.
There is a lot of research involved in writing. Whether fiction or non-fiction, you must have your data correct. You can’t write a story describing a movie in a book set in the ‘60s, but the film youreferenced was not released until 1970.
It took several years of research and numerous interviews while traveling back 50 years. In the process, I enjoyed expressing myself on paper and started writing stories about them. Now, I have published a few short stories on Amazon.
AGAINST ALL ODDS We Found The Perfect Love is a beautiful 454-page love story that reveals how we went against the odds of finding each other again and blending two hearts with perfect love. My Love Story In A Nutshell is the condensed version.
I gained a new respect for writers. Now, when I walk into any bookstore, I don’t see books but the time to write them.
We each have a story to tell. Begin yours today.
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