Dreams, Strokes, and E-Books

I'd always dreamed of becoming a writer "someday," but until my mid-forties, my writing was limited to occasional articles in business magazines and professional journals. I was too busy with my interior landscape business, my husband and home life, and my volunteer activities to pursue my dream.

Then one fateful day, I visited a chiropractor for a routine treatment for a migraine headache and ended up with a debilitating stroke. After two years of therapy and recovery, I realized that I couldn't afford to put off my dream for an elusive "someday" that I might never have. I also thought about Christ's parable of the talents; if God gives us a dream, surely He gives us the talent to go along with the dream. He didn't give me the talent to bury, but to use.

So I started writing, and the result was the contemporary romance novel Stroke of Luck.

I wrote, re-wrote, edited, revised, polished, and tweaked. Then I sent the manuscript to publishers so one would buy it and distribute it to the readers who eagerly awaited this special story. I visualized a paperback on the shelves of the local bookstore.

a. I even had one editor tell me in person, as I sat in my motorized wheelchair in front of her, "No one wants to read a romance about a disabled character."

Shortly after that I heard about electronic publishing and discovered e-publishers are more open to different characters and plot lines than the New York print publishers. My book is now available from GASLight Publishing.

Several years have passed since I first discovered e-publishing. I'm focusing more on nonfiction (both writing and editing) as Editor-in-Chief of Our Mail Network - Your Information Center.

I read e-books more often than print books for several reasons, including the following: E-books from small presses are less expensive, so I can afford to indulge my reading habit more often than with print books. My eyesight is very poor, and I can adjust the font on my e-book reader or my computer screen to make reading comfortable; the font in many print books is too small for me to read. I like knowing that no trees were destroyed for me to enjoy reading a book; something like 30% of all books that are printed are actually destroyed unsold and unread - what a waste! But, most importantly, I've discovered some wonderful inspirational books as well as secular books that I can read without offending my Christian faith. Check out the books written by Christian E-Authors and those reviewed on the Book Reviews by Christian E-Authors - I'm sure you'll find some you'll enjoy!