I'm a writer

The logical part of my brain knows that the fact Strange Business hasn't rocketed to the top of the best seller list is simply to be expected. There are thousands of books out there, many of which are written by people more talented than I, and expecting to be an 'overnight success' is on par with winning the lottery.

The emotional part of my brain is still frustrated, though.

Since the release of the book, I've been doing what I can to garner publicity on a very small budget, and it's gotten me thinking about what it means to 'be a writer'. 

For practically my whole life, my career dream has been 'to be a writer' someday. It occurred to me this morning, however, that I always WAS a writer. I've got diaries I've kept off and on since I was nine years old. I have notebooks full of short stories where history notes probably should have been. I wrote for my high school's literary and fine arts magazine, and occasionally submitted things to the paper in college. I had a Livejournal account from 2003 up until the time Facebook took over social media. (for the record, I do still update it from time to time.) I even wrote fan fiction.

To be a writer, you only have to write, is my point. What I really meant when I said 'I want to be a writer' is 'I want to be the kind of writer that other people read.'

That's harder. I am now, officially, a published author, thanks to Wild Rose Press, and I've had the thrill of holding a book I wrote in my hands. It's a wonderful accomplishment, and I am proud.

And yet. 

There's always another hill, isn't there? I wanted to be a writer. I wrote. I wanted to be a PUBLISHED writer. I got published. And now I want to be the kind of writer other people want to read. 

To do that, I need to become a marketer, a publicist, a saleswoman. That's a harder challenge. 

I think I'm up to it. I hope I am.