You Should Write a Book!

by G.Parker

I got to meet up with an old acquaintance yesterday. This was someone I haven't seen for almost 35 years. It was as if the cliche' "blast from the past" had taken root and everything felt surreal.

She had brought her father along because our father's had known each other very well, and I was always on the search for more information about him. He and my mother died when I was young and we know nothing about how they met, what they were like, etc.

As we sat at dinner and caught up on our lives, what we've done since then and stuff, she said that I should write a book.

My husband and I both laughed, because she has no idea what I do now, that I'm a writer and illustrator. I didn't elaborate at that point because she was talking about personal history, not fiction, but that conversation is still playing over in my mind.

How many times do we hear that from people we meet? We tell of our life's experiences and they admonish us to write them down. Perhaps we're a good story teller and those hearing our stories suggest the same thing -- write a book.

Usually it's followed up with "I'd buy it!" and you think, great, that's one copy....

As writers we have so many decisions and choices going on in our lives, it's hard to step back and take a look. Many of us have life histories that would be fascinating to others. Several of us have amazing story telling abilities and should already be published, if not for the vagarities of the publishing world.

The important thing is that we write. We read how to do it better, follow the examples of others and just do it.

Someday I'll write my personal history, when I've over come the mental blocks that prevent me from sharing personal things. Till then, I'll keep writing and hopefully someday soon there will be a book I can hand her. I'll say, "Here -- I wrote a book."

Wouldn't that be the best feeling ever?