Q&A with Jessica L. Degarmo discussion

I'd love to hear about how you started writing and why. What's been the most gratifying thing? What do you like least about writing? Along the way, what have you learned about yourself?

What a lovely, giving group you are! No one wants to share his or her own writing journey, or are you all just waiting for me to go first? :)

Don't worry Jessica, I'll go. I started because I became interested in a Spanish composer called Juan Hidalgo. I couldn't find a book about him. He was harpist in the court of the king and wrote the first two Spanish operas. So I decided to write the book! It was to be a biography but I decided to write a novel instead. He became my The Harpist of Madrid. It's an outrageous novel with sex, scandal, spying and all kinds of intrique woven in. I wrote it after I retired and loved the wonderful act of creating it from doing the research to writing it and even doing the major editing. Now I can't stop writing: I've written two thirds of the next and have topics for at least two more! Writing has enriched my life and I hope my novels will enrich the lives of others!

I'm with Jessica. Come on you lot! Gordon

Hi Jessica: we need to kick start this one again Gordonx

I agree. It fell flatter than a lead balloon...

Jessica, I started writing when I was nine as a way to deal with my parents getting a divorce what started out as a journal turned into poetry turned into essays and I was off. I had my firsst poem published in a local paper and never looked back. When I write I feel peace, I reflect on circumstances and not people but their responses and my responses to them and I find clarity. What I don't like about writing is that I still prefer a pen or typewriter and therefore I have to rewrite everything on the computer and therefore at times my original thought process changes up in the transfering process and I sometimes question which version is the one I most prefer :). Have an awesome day hugs xx

Hi Jessica, I'll go, but only if you post about your own afterwards. :)

I started reading very early, I remember reading an article from the newspaper out loud to my parents not long before I turned four. By the age of five I'd read my first novel - Watershipdown. It was around that time that I started to write poetry. I don't know why I wrote other than I had a compulsion, a need.

At thirteen I wrote my first novella and entered it into a contest for teens where I lived at the time. I got into the top ten and was then disqualified because you had to be fourteen, and I was too young! But I got an honorary mention, and that was enough to keep me going.

This is turning out to be a long answer, I guess because I'm not so sure myself. After the birth of my third (and last) child I started writing seriously. My first marriage had been incredibly unhappy, and I poured my fears and experiences into my first two books. At that point, I guess writing became a happy compulsion. I don't write everyday. I give it a try everyday, but I don't get stressed when I don't feel like it as I'll have days when I can write thousands of words in a couple of hours.

What have I learned? That my ex had more of an effect on me than I realised. It's been fourteen years since I left him, and there's still hints of it coming out in my work.

Now, your turn, Jessica!

Patricia wrote: "Jessica, I started writing when I was nine as a way to deal with my parents getting a divorce what started out as a journal turned into poetry turned into essays and I was off. I had my firsst poem..."

I also prefer pen and paper. Not all the time now, I'm slowly converting, but I find I can really centre my thoughts on paper in a way I can't on the screen. I think my inner editor comes out then and disturbs my flow by forcing me to make corrections!

Gordon wrote: "Don't worry Jessica, I'll go. I started because I became interested in a Spanish composer called Juan Hidalgo. I couldn't find a book about him. He was harpist in the court of the king and wrote th..."

That sounds like a wonderful book! Also, what great reasons for writing it. What is the subject of the one you're working on now?

Hi Lisa and company!
Watership Down is one of my favorite books of all time!
Since you asked about my writing journey and were kind enough to share yours, I'll share mine.
Basically, ever since I was young, I loved to write but I never really was able to finish anything I started.
I went back to college right before my thirtieth birthday and was greatly encouraged by my English professor to take it up because he thought I had the potential to be a good writer. I was honored and very flattered by the praise, but still didn't really do anything about it.

But, in 2009, my husband suffered a long-term layoff and we struggled to pay our bills and keep food on the table with just my income. So, in January 2010, I began to write, thinking the idea that I had been mulling around in my head would not only be a good book that I could finish, but that it would also help out my family by providing another stream of income. Eleven months after I started writing the book, it was published by Night Publishing, and the rest is, as they say, history. I discovered that I loved to write books, and that I could actually finish them. I now have five books published by two publishers, and I'm on track to have another book out this year, and one to follow in the early part of next year.
I've learned alot and grown alot since I started on my writing journey, and I'm proof that even ordinary people can do pretty much anything they set their minds to.

Hi Jessica, I find it amazing when people move so quickly - and so successfully! It really shows a spark of something good, in my opinion. It took me many years to get from book to published in any form!

I agree with Lisa. You've done wonders. Jessica! It took me five years to complete The Harpist and get him into print! The next one is moving faster. 'The Emerald of Burgos' is almost finished: four chs. to go! But yet to edit her and more! I've several other ideas in the making though!

Thanks, Lisa and Gordon! A writer's journey can take many paths, and it's interesting to see what drives us to do what we do. There are so many personal reasons that push us over the brink from dreamer to doer. I'm so pleased you shared your stories with everyone.