Submission Jitters

What kind of writing do you do, Terilee? Do you write books, write for magazines, the Internet? I'd love to hear more as an aspiring writer myself.

I have been 'doodling' all my life. I have written articles for our newspaper and have had several articles published in magazines. I have written a lot of Internet things, some for writing sites, some I did for webpages. What really boosted my writing was a genealogy manuscript from a collection of over 40 years of research. The manuscript was a story of the migration of my ancestry and how they ended up where they did. That research too me on a journey of learning how they cooked, what they ate and how their eating habits changed with the migration, which in turn, led to a wonderful cookbook of family recipes. Some of the recipes date back to the 1800s. Each recipe has a story to go along with it. The genealogy manuscript shifted my attention to editing for other researchers, so I spent some time editing other people's work. At the same time, still trying to sell my work and doing website articles. Poetry, query letters, newspaper articles and other pieces in various catergories and genres just kept my fingers in the pot, so to speak. All the while, I knew I had to write 'my story'. Eventually, that story began to flow like a river. It flooded on the paper, from my memory, through my heart and soul, drifting around my brain and came out like it had to help me put it all on paper. It was made into a complete manuscript with hopes I would at least get it into a book that would sell. That was not to be....... I took a job co-writing and editing scripts. My employer/friend read my manuscript and liked it. He liked it so much, he bought the rights to it. He has plans to make it into a television series that will debut in fall of 2009. Currently, I'm back to doodling. I'm producing a series of books which are spinoffs of the first cookbook, and I'm still writing articles for newspaper and magazines. Of course I'm still working part time with my employer/friend, spending most of the time editing, polishing and extending the original manuscript. I'm not going to be famous or anything....but I'm writing, and my writing is recognized. I'm handsomely rewarded for it - that's a big plus. I never stuck myself in one genre. I write what I feel and what I know, based on the wisdom I've gathered throughout life, which has been a fascinting ride. Keep up with your writing......even when you think you have nothing to say, or think no one wants to read it. Write it anyway.