Wordofthedayblog

We all know the saying, "If you build it, they will come." Well, I'm about to find out! This is my first blog, and I've decided to set up my own little teensy weensy spot on the Internet with what I call Wordofthedayblog. I'm shooting for five days a week--but sometimes it might be more, sometimes it might be less. (Can you tell I have a commitment issue here?) To be honest, I find the whole idea mindbloggeling. (Couldn't resist) But I'm eager to give it a try, and while coming up with a topic everyday sounded a bit overwhelming, coming up with just a word felt like those soft sheepskin slippers my daughter bought for me last Christmas. Extremely comfortable. I make no promises I will have anything at all interesting to say--and certainly no promises of dazzling anyone with my intellect--this is really not the place to come if you're looking for subjects of great significance to human kind. I'm simply going to pluck a word out out of my brain and see what, if anything follows...So today's word is...SHELF. Shelf? you ask? What kind of word is that? Well, as I glanced around my office, I noticed the first book (this is a day of firsts, after all) I wrote. There it sits, in a neat little box, bound with a rubber band, sitting on the top shelf of a closet. It was a Civil War romance novel, the story of a beautiful woman named Brianna who is on the run from bad guys, and the rugged, angry hero, blinded in the war. Alas, it was rejected (my first rejection!) and I admit, I was devastated. Writing is hard work and takes a little piece of your soul every time you sit down at the computer. I wasn't sure I was cut out for the business. (Which famous sports writer said, "writing is easy, you just sit down and cut open a vein."? Nearly talked myself out of it a hundred times. (writing, not cutting a vein) But I hung in, and eventually, after a second book was rejected, I finally made my first sale, which was a Desire, Woman Tamer, (never liked that title!) a book I wrote more on a lark than anything else. So now here I am, thirty books later and there that first book still sits on the shelf, exactly where it belongs, a reminder to me of where this amazing career has brought me (sitting here writing this for one thing) and the joy I have telling my stories. Don't give up your dreams, girlfriends. You may have to put them up on a shelf sometimes, but never give them up!