Writers write...

[tinuvial]

I will never forget a conversation that I had with published gaming author, R. Mark Coleman, in the living room of my Everett, WA home twenty years ago. I asked him what it took to become a published author, and he responded, "My dear, writers write."

So simple. Yet so many aspiring authors (myself included) lose sight of the fact that to publish a novel, you must first *finish* a novel. Of course, I'm not trying to write the great American novel, and to be fair, I am published under pseudonym, and under my own name as a poet.

I do write. Tons of process documentation, blog posts and miscellaneous stuff for work. I've always felt, however, that everyone has a book inside them. Something destined to be great, something only they could write. My father has always lamented that I got out of journalism, he has always believed that I was a born writer. I think he is correct, I just think my muse was sleeping all this time.

They say, "Write what you know." (Who is "they" anyway?) Write from the heart. One of the writers who has inspired me the most recently is Mitch Albom (Tuesdays with Morrie). As I contemplated what do get my father for Father's Day this year (seriously, what do you get a man who has everything), I realized that the personalized gifts that I have made in recent years - photo books, posters, etc., have been a big hit.

That's when it struck me. I started writing, and I'm finding it terrifyingly easy to write this book. The working title is, "Things My Dad Said: 25 Lessons That Formed My Character."

Thankfully, anyone can publish through Amazon.com's Create Space program. It only takes a few days to get physical copies of your book once the process is started. I'm going home to visit Dad the end of May, and it's my goal to have at least a proof copy of the book to hand him then.

I don't care if I sell 1 copy or a million. This is the book I was born to write. The journey is good.

Namaste.

Ciao for now.