A white hot burn

Yesterday, at the RWASD’s annual literary event our speaker was Sherrilyn Kenyon, a #1 New York Times Bestselling author many times over.

She told us of struggle, homelessness, deep family problems both as a child growing up and married. She never said it, but it was obvious to me that she needed to show that she was good for something. In so doing, she validated a purpose both for her and others. I surmise that that “I’ll show them” attitude can propel writers to do their best. Sherrilyn also had an abiding and unrelenting love for writing which manifested itself in entering contests and submitting as a child, becoming the editor of her school(s) papers, expanding into multiple art forms within writing such as manga. She did describe a loving relationship she had with her brother who has since died. (You might call this the “Save the Cat” influence.)

I take from this that we need a fire in our bellies. It can be set by negative influences and/or a firm belief in ourselves and some sort of human love and support. Sherrilyn said of writing, that if you have a beginning, middle, and end, start writing! All the better if the subject of your story also burns white hot. For instance, if there is something that bothers you in the world, write it. Don’t be a afraid to express yourself, just make it smart and subtle. It is fiction after all. Show, don’t tell.

My father had always denigrated me saying I would amount to nothing, but my mom was my saving influence. I did amount to something!

Yet, it was not until my dying daughter whom I was a caregiver for and to whom I read my latest story. She made me promise to, “get a traditional publisher this time, dad,” because she loved the story.

Did you ever feel that if left to your own devices, nothing much would get done or that the project didn’t have that umph necessary? I have. Well, with Lani as my angel, I do not work alone. I achieved her goal for me (and fulfilled a dream of my own). I will have it published in 2020 with a respected publisher known for the genre in which I write…

Tell me what aggravates you and let’s see if there’s a story there.

Regarding my story, what aggravated me was and is white supremacists who demonstrated their idiocy in Charlottesville and elsewhere. By the time they demonstrated outside the White House (maybe fourteen to forty of them, they were met by four thousand counter-demonstrators (a true story.) This failure gave me hope and a story idea that burned my soul white hot until I with the help of Lani completed it.