This week I am participating in the AHA Breakthrough Authors Blog Hop by sharing my writing and publishing journey. Have I truly broken out? I guess that depends on your definition. Then again, that’s true of a lot of things.

Two years ago, with one published novel under my belt, I attended my first writer’s conference—The amazing DFW Writers’ Conference—and the experience changed my life. One of the things discussed was what makes someone a ‘writer’ or an ‘author’? Speakers at the conference...