We have Adriana Locke with us today sharing what she loves about being an indie author. Help me in welcoming Adriana to Cocktails and Books!
What I Love Most About Being an Indie Author
by Adriana Locke
I would write these fun little stories when I was a little girl. I remember one I was specifically proud of about a baker that just so happened to be a bear (my first plot twist!). I called my friend Jenny and had her come over with her art box (because Jenny was the neighborhood Van Gogh – but with both ears) and she did the illustrations to go along with the words. It was fantastic. 😉
Strangely, I had all but forgotten about my short stint as an aspiring author. I’d forgotten that I wanted to be a grown up author and how much fun it was to tell a story. Life can do that to you. It can suck the fun and dreams out of you so fast you don’t even realize it’s happening. You go from ‘the world is my oyster’ to having to adult all day and those ideas you had when you were a child (like having hobbies and career plans and ideas to change the world) get lost in the fog of paying bills and feeding little people. It happens.
I was visiting my mother (who has never met something she thought was necessary to throw away) and was at a weird time in my life. I felt very … dull. I’d lost my passion for basically everything in my life (except my kids because mothering is what I do!) – even books didn’t hold the same pizazz they once did. I was bored, lackluster. I was … not me.
I was digging through the things Mom saved from when I was younger and found this bright pink Barbie suitcase. It was hard plastic with a purple sliding lock in the front. Immediately, I jerked it out of the pile because I remembered exactly what was in there – my stories. The bear baker. The babysitter that ate all the chocolate. The little girl that got to keep all the puppies her dog had. (*sniffles* I loved all of Buffy’s puppies and Mom made me give them away. That was my first introduction to writing as therapy, by the way.)
The title of this post is “What I love most about being an indie author” and I really kicked around a lot of reasons why I love doing what I do. I’m sitting in my pajamas this afternoon – I love that. I just got a message from a reader that just finished Sacrifice and I SO love that. I love hearing that readers can relate to my characters or that they snuggle their kids tighter at night because of something I’ve written. I love those things a lot. But what do I love most? I love that it gives me something that’s mine.
I’m a wife and a mother to a bunch of little (cute, wild, chaotic, dirty) boys. My days consist of laundry, dishes, finding wrestling shoes, going to class parties at the elementary school, making dinner, and driving littles to their activities. I wouldn’t trade that for anything in the world. (Well, maybe the dishes part. I loathe dishes.) But all of that gets routine. It’s not creative or overly engaging unless you’re a Martha Stewart type and can make things from scratch and decorate, which I’m not. Otherwise, it’s giving, giving, giving – to people I love, yes – but giving nonetheless. But writing? That replenishes my soul. That’s for me. That reminds me I’m more than the laundry doer and the get-the-gum-out-of-the-carpet girl in the house. It reminds me I’m smart, funny (maybe?), and capable of churning out one hundred thousand words that some people (hopefully) enjoy. Writing fills my gas tank in a way that nothing else can. And that’s what I love most about being an indie author.
I get asked a lot where to start, how to start, and how did I know I could do it? For one, I never knew I could do it. I tried. I picked up my pen (and yes, I wrote with a pen before I started typing) and started writing words. It was a late night in February, snowing, if I recall, and I was sitting in the living room with Mr. Locke with a fountain pop and a bag of cinnamon gummy bears and I started putting words on paper. None of those words made it into The Exception, mind you, but that doesn’t matter. I started where you start – with words.
If you’re thinking of writing, I encourage you to do it. Even if you never publish a thing, even if no one reads what you’ve written but you, do it. Prove to yourself you can. Show yourself that you’re worth the time to explore that part of you. It’s worth it. I promise.
xo,
Adriana
USA Today Bestselling author Adriana Locke lives and breathes books. After years of slightly obsessive relationships with the flawed bad boys created by other authors, Adriana has created her own.
She resides in the Midwest with her husband, sons, and two dogs. She spends a large amount of time playing with her kids, drinking coffee, and cooking. You can find her outside if the weather’s nice and there’s always a piece of candy in her pocket.
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Inspiring. Really enjoyed the article.