Mary’s Comments (group member since Jan 10, 2015)

Mary’s comments from the Conversation with Sharman Apt Russell group.

Oh, your most welcome, Heather! Best of luck in your own journey. It's different for us all. . .

If you're being preachy, you're preaching to the choir. Every once in a while a new author approaches me about a poor review. I always remind him/her that no one writes for everyone. Some are gonna love you, some are gonna hate you and everything in between. There are wonderful authors whose expertise and talent I admire - but I can't read them to save my soul. Go figure.

I don't know about loving the act of writing. That starts all of us out, of course. But for me, and everyone's different, I've been doing it so long, it's simply what I do. I can be proud of what I do and happy when I've done it well but do I love it? Hmm. Jury's still out. It's what I do. It defines me. I don't know if I'll ever be able to stop. Sometimes, I'd like to.

Cool anecdote, Merritt (no pun intended!). Thanks.

Your commitment will get you there, Alisa. As Sharman says, discover your process. Enjoy the journey! It doesn't have to be a torment. For me, it's an intellectual engagement like no other and, most often, pure joy. Until, of course, an editor takes my hand and then, it's a sentence to the pressure cooker!!

Alisa, Sharman - and then there are the one trick ponies like me. I need complete focus on a work and can no more put it down and pick up something very different for a while than I can play the flute while strumming a guitar. But that's one of the most interesting things about authoring. There's not one way to do it. Each writer must find his or her own way. It's not called the lonely art for nothin'!