Wednesday Why's? This week, 'Why I write.'

When I was little, even before kindergarten, my grandfather taught me to read and write. We played games mostly, since he lived with us and babysat me while my parents both worked. We would spend hours playing spit and rummy and go-fish, to the point I could add and subtract way ahead of my classmates once I went to school. I could also tell a good story.

Grampa used to tell tall tales and he would sit me on his lap and help me write them down. He would make up part of the story and then ask me what happens next? When we were done, he always smiled--something that was rare for him. I have wonderful memories of my grandfather, although I hear he was a son-of-a-gun (I'll keep it PG), to his own kids and even to my older siblings. Whether he was trying to make up for all his ill deeds or was just partial to me and my sunny, unflappable disposition, I'll never know. What I do know is that he planted a seed. A powerful passion for writing, telling stories and crafting a good tale.

I continued to write after he died when I was ten. Keeping journals and diaries on and off for many years, writng poetry and short stories, never considering publication. Until I went to a financial seminar where Harv Ecker, motivational speaker and finance wizard, talked about creating passive streams of income. When he suggested that writing a book was a way to make money, (you write the book and then collect the royalties), I thought,  I'm a decent writer. How hard can it be?

OMG! Six years and seven manuscripts later, I still haven't made a dime. Yet I keep learning, growing and writing. Some days I think I must have been crazy to embark on this journey. At first, I started looking at what people read (55% of the book market being romance) and thought, I know about that. I could write one of those. Again, I asked myself, How hard can it be? OMG! Harv is probably having himself a good laugh right about now.

 With indy-publishing my first book in September, I am taking on the new role of publisher and author, as well as director of marketing and promotions. I haven't even stopped to count how many hats I'm wearing at once. But amidst all of this chaos and craziness, I go back to the reason why I write.

 I love to tell a good story, and I love making people smile. So what about you? WHY do you write? Or quilt, or play sports? What inspired you to do what you are passionate about?