What drew you into writing that first manuscript?
For me, it was after I read, then reread MCKENZIE’S MOUNTAIN by Linda Howard. This dog-eared, broken spine, yellow paged book was given to me by a dear friend who thought I might like it. Like it? Loved it. The heroine was not classically beautiful, although thin. 😉 The hero, Native American, had lots of baggage.
I wanted to write my own HEA hoping if I could repair what was broken in my real life. I started writing on a legal pad–filled three of them before I got a computer and dot matrix printer. Doesn’t that age me! I was so proud of that first completed book. Sent it off to Harlequin. Got the rejection on my birthday! That first attempt sits in my credenza along the with 2nd book I wrote. But I was hooked. I needed to write the stories of my heart.
Please share what lured you into writing!
Smart Women 
I admit, what led me to write my first category romance, WITHIN REACH, was an experience similar to Meg’s but in a bad way. I read a romance novel (I won’t mention names) that took place on the New Mexico or Texas border, and every single Border Patrol agent in it was represented as this redneck bigot with little education, less intelligence and zero compassion, while the people they were arresting (“harassing,” in the author’s words) were innocent, hard-working, law-abiding and simply looking for a better life for their even more innocent children.
I lived in San Diego at the time, where illegal immigration was/is a huge problem, and where the Border Patrol had a large presence doing a very hard job dealing with people who were innocent (but not law-abiding or they wouldn’t have been crossing the border illegally) but also with a lot of people who were moving north looking for wealthier or easier targets for their violent crime. I was totally insulted on the BP’s behalf by the author’s one-sided, bigoted and ill-informed vision of them, so I wrote a book with a Border Patrol agent hero.
Gee, if her representation had been more balanced, I might never have written or sold that book!
I’m sooo glad the book was crappy!
You’ve given us so many hours of joy!
I wrote my first story when I was in fifth grade. We’d just moved from Arkansas to St. Louis and all the kids said I talked funny. I had a terrible accent. I entered a fifth grade writing contest, wrote a truly awful story about two star-crossed lovers caught up in the Civil War. But amazingly, I won the contest. I had to read my story in front of all the fifth grade classes. I was nervous, but I decided to lay on my accent, thick and heavy. So the way I read the story out loud was really funny. I got a ton of laughs and made new friends. And I was hooked. I love writing. It offers a way to connect with people I might never have before.
Thanks for sharing, Lynn! I took Creative Writing in 5th grade. I didn’t win any contests. 🙂
I’ve always written stories, poems, love letters… But I decided to get serious about writing after I started a really tough job that gave me nightmares and then my DH got really sick. While we were in the hopsital we talked about the dreams I’d been having and he said, “You could write a book out of that.” And so I did.
I stopped having nightmares about the job once I started writing again.
Wow, Ren!!!
Awesome beginning.
Like most of us, I’ve written since I was a kid. Short stories, poetry (if you ever read any of it, you’d thank me for not pursuing that career), and even wrote a couple of songs.
I have to admit that when I hit one of the -0- birthdays, I gave myself permission to try writing a novel. I know that sounds silly…giving yourself permission, but that’s what I did. I’d put my writing in a drawer for a number of years and didn’t touch it. But when I hit that one BD, I HAD to put pen to paper. I took a writing class that opened my eyes and from there I eventually found RWI. Now I can’t imagine doing anything else with the rest of my life.
Linda–
Actually I don’t think giving yourself permission is silly. I had to give myself permission to not be ‘perfect’ while writing. It was the only way I jumped back in to finish TAME.
Thanks for your input!!!
I always wrote stories, usually SF, in school, but I didn’t let anyone but teachers read my stuff until I started writing Star Trek fanfiction. What got me into writing romance for publication was reading a crappy book. I just KNEW I could do better.