Dare to Dream

               Are dreams worth pursuing?  Can they be pursued? One of my favorite poems as a teenager had the line “Don’t be distracted by less worthy deeds.”

               Okay, maybe you’ve guessed by now that I love to write. Writing to me is like painting was to someone like Norman Rockwell. It gives the mundane, the obscure a new shot of life. Writing can and should give new insight and vitality to commonly held conceptions.

               And so I write. The problem is there is a whole tidal wave of other aspiring writers struggling to the top, seeking to be noticed. We have challenges that weren’t faced back in the 1950’s. When To Kill A Mocking Bird was written the editor ended up having more faith in Harper Lee’s book than she had herself. Apparently, in frustration, she threw the manuscript out the open window, but the editor encouraged her to gather up those fluttering pages and try, try again.

Who helps us? Self-Publishing has gotten a bad rap from people, ya, like me, who read their manuscripts a ‘thousand’ times and become blind to the ‘million’ little typos that glare at them after the book is off the press. UHH! Who wants to read that? Not even me.

BUT we put a tremendous amount of work into it. BUT we are sure are ideas are great: if the reader can see past those awful typos: if there was a way to struggle against the human tide of other writers who are also flooding the market. Ever feel that way? Unless you are smugly holding the key to success that I haven’t found yet, of course, you do.

And so fellow writers what are we going to do?  I know for a fact I will continue to write because I love to, and those earlier disgraces haven’t thrown me into despair. Fact is I redid Mary’s Diary, Jesus through His Mother’s Eyes because I believe in it, and now the present copy is far better than the first.

I’m doing the same with Two Mothers and Twin Daughters. I can’t believe how enriching an experience it is to rewrite a favorite story after the earlier (humiliating) publication several years ago.

Okay, I admit I’m just a little old oyster polishing, polishing that pearl inside me, but maybe someday you and I can, like Anna Pavlova, the famous dancer, learn the true meaning of success. Do you know what she said? Here is my paraphrase:

Success is having people loving what you do.

Just so you don’t forget my name, I’ll sign it. : )

Marilyn Friesen

P.S. I’ve started a new series called Grace’s Dilemma. The first book is Two Mothers, Twin Daughters. It should be out soon.

Have you read any of my other books yet? Check them out on my website. www.marilynshistoricalnovels.com