About Me: Why I Write

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In 1998 I became a writer. Not because I made the best seller’s list, or got published, or even found an agent to represent me, but because I decided to put pen to paper and see if I had it in me to be a writer. Well, not necessarily pen to paper, since my mode of transportation at the time was a Brother word processor.

 

I spent each night, before and after dinner, hidden away in the laundry room closet next to the kitchen of my one bedroom apartment that I shared with my new bride, taking it one page at a time, seeing if I had the willpower to complete a novel. I did it, and the end result was my first attempt at a novel, COMING HOME, a coming of age story with baseball as its backdrop.

 

I sent out exactly 10 query letters (a one page description of the novel with a short author bio) to literary agents. I received a couple of responses, one of which was even personalized, but they were all rejections nonetheless.

 

The fact of the matter is, 99 out of every 100 query letters is rejected. And that’s just asking an agent to read your work. Don’t even try to go directly to the publishers. That’s a no-no, slap on the hand, how dare you, unpublished author!

 

I was 0 for 10 and naturally I decided to go commerical and try and write something that would sell. Thus came THE DONOR, a thriller that asks the question of how far a father might go to secure a donor for his dying son. One convoluted plot later, which even includes a little bit of mob intrigue to stir the fire, and I had completed my second novel.

 

I sent out a few more query letters this time, and even received a response that was simply a business card with “Send me your MS” written in black sharpie on the back. It was weird, and a bit unprofessional, but I took it as a request and sent my completed novel anyway. Never heard back, of course.

 

So life happened, and years would fly by before I would get the itch to write my third novel, THE PROSPECT, a novel about a young man and a down on his luck baseball scout, and how a chance meeting between the two would spark the prospect’s meteoric rise to fame. I’ve always wanted to write a novel about sports, and I enjoyed writing it, and I think it showed in the end.

 

I received two requests from literary agents to read the novel, and was actually told by one that they loved the story, the writing, and the characters, but they just weren’t sure if they could sell it. So this was strike three.

 

More life, more years, and then my most recent book happened. I am most proud of AFTER LIFE because it is a book that came from my heart. I enjoyed writing it and I think it is a culmination of all my experiences as a person and writer, and I believe it is my best work yet.

 

In the process of trying to secure an agent for AFTER LIFE, one request to read the novel so far, I have become a little frustrated. Because ultimately I want people to read my books. I have devoted a lot of time in front of my computer crafting these stories and it would be nice to know someone other than my family was going to read them.

 

So that’s why I am self-publishing. I am not giving up on getting published through a traditional publisher, but I am tired of waiting for that dream to come true. I believe in myself, I believe in my work, and I believe that I am a writer, which happened that day I sat down in front of my Brother word processor so many years ago.