Why Wait? Create

Photo by "My Life Through A Lens" on Unsplash

I always wanted to be a writer. As a child, my grandmother introduced me to the idea that books held magic. When that happened, I couldn’t get enough of them.

Straight and curved lines, pieced together in various combinations on a page transported me to enchanted lands with buried treasure, the attic of a seminary for young ladies, the mind of a thoroughbred horse, the interior of a mysterious tollbooth, a wizard’s cottage in the forest, a community of rabbits, and so many other fantastic realms.

The authors of my childhood practiced alchemy; creating incredible experiences within the confines of pressed woodpulp sheets glued to paperboard wrapped in cloth.

I wanted in on it.

Like the protagonist in a favorite childhood tale, however, I was sidetracked, conditioned by the world to believe that access to the alchemists’ society was restricted, available only to a chosen few.

Instead, I was encouraged to focus on the practical:

“Get a job that pays well, then you can do what you want in your spare time.”

“Lots of careers involve writing, even if it’s not what you want to write, at least you’ll be making money writing something.”

“Publishing is really hard to break into, better go the business route.”

So, I built a career in law that allowed me to write in a rigid, highly regulated format that dates back to ancient Rome. A tradition passed down from jurisprudente to advocat to pleader to serjeant to barrister to counselor to lawyer, one that today sounds a lot like it did a thousand years ago.

Have you ever read your lease, mortgage agreement, or credit card contract? They often read like they were written by a solicitor from ancient Rome.

A few years ago, coincident with the COVID-19 lockdown, the urge to write a book became overwhelming. I had a successful legal career that offered intellectual challenges that were interesting, if unsatisfying. It helped me raise my family and paid the bills, but it wasn’t enough.

I wanted the chance to try my hand at the alchemy of storytelling, even if it meant giving up a well-paying job.

I didn’t care, I just wanted to write.

In what I now consider a bit of divine intervention, a long-time client told me a story about one of his Greek ancestors who undertook a heroic effort to bring his family to America around the turn of the twentieth century.

The conversation was like a strike of lightning, and I surprised myself by saying, “Hey, that is an amazing story; I’ve been wanting to write a book.”

My client graciously agreed to share his family’s story and I promised to fictionalize it, even changing the time period to the eighteenth century, to coincide with my love of pirates, sailing, Greek mythology, and maritime adventure.

I wrote during my lunch hour. I took notes of the conflicts and interactions among opposing counsel and clients during hearings and meetings. On weekends, I pored over sailing logs and merchants’ diaries.

I wrote in the morning, waking up early to get thoughts on the page before the hectic workday took over. At the gym, I studied historical maps about the locations while walking on the treadmill.

At night, I watched videos on writing craft, storytelling, and the technical aspects of good fiction. I joined online groups of writers who generously shared their processes and offered tips and tricks. I asked my client a thousand questions about his family.

Saturday and Sunday mornings were filled with writing; I’d look up and find that five hours had passed even though it felt like thirty minutes. As I practiced finding my voice, I read and read and read, with an eye toward recognizing the aspects of stories that inspired me.

I share this process because many people told me that writing and publishing a book while working full-time at a stressful job was impossible. I got lots of questions like:

Why not wait until you retire? You’ll have plenty of time then.

What if you don’t have enough saved for retirement?

What if your writing career isn’t successful?

What if, what if, what if?

No one asked me, what if you put your dream on hold forever, and you die before you realize it? I guess I asked myself that question, because I chose not to wait.

While working full-time, I researched, wrote, edited, formatted, uploaded, and published a historical fiction novel.

The experience was so fulfilling and energizing that I wrote a sequel the following year. That experience convinced me that I couldn’t stop there.

I left my stable job and decided to turn the books into a five-book series (book three is being released on July 31, 2025).

In the midst of all that, quite unexpectedly, I experienced a real-life version of that old Irish blessing, “may the road rise to meet you.”

I submitted an idea for a non-fiction book on using Shakespeare’s plays as a pathway to improving mental health, and won a publisher’s book proposal contest.

Last year, I wrote a draft of that book, called Shakespeare’s Guide to Living the Good Life. It’s being released on April 15, 2025.

If you’ve always wanted to write a book and have been given (or have given yourself) a million reasons why you have to delay that desire, please, please, please just start!

Your writing and publishing journey might look very different from mine, but that’s the beauty of it. You will carve your own path and you will find mentors, helpers, teachers, supporters, and the most amazing community of other writers who will assist in making your dream a reality.

Why Wait? Create.

Footnote: The books mentioned in the first paragraph are Treasure Island, A Little Princess, Black Beauty, The Phantom Tollbooth, The Sword in the Stone, and Watership Down.