“Begin, be bold, and venture to be wise.” ― Horace
Beginnings are challenging, and for some reason, they seem to be doubly challenging to an aspiring writer. Robert A. Heinlein said, "Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterward." Starting an author site and maintaining a blog certainly isn't a private act.
So who am I to write a blog?
I'm a writer, that's who. I'm someone who has something to say, and regardless of whether anyone listens or cares, I'm going to say it. So, let's start with the basics:
Who is RT Coleman?
Here's the boring stuff: Over the course of my 40+ years, I grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas; went to college and grad school; got married; had a kid; got divorced; became a teacher; got remarried; gained two stepkids; earned a doctorate degree; traveled the United States in a 5th wheel with my best friend/husband; and bought a farm in Arkansas.
In the midst of all that, I've lived in Dallas, Minneapolis, and San Antonio, and many places in between. My husband Joe and I watched our three kids graduate high school. We became grandparents and sent our two boys to college themselves.
Somewhere in the last six years, I wrote a book. I worked on it for 5 years on and off, until one day I realized a) I loved writing and b) I was actually pretty good at it. I finished the first completed draft in 2015 in the oppressive heat of summer in the Florida Keys, revised at least two dozen times in 2016, and started shopping it.
And nothing happened. Nothing happened for a very long time.
Why Am I Blogging?
Ernest Hemingway said, "We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master." No truer words have been spoken about writing, and I would add that navigating the publishing world is just as perplexing. Despite the fact that I'd read dozens of articles and web postings about publishing, agents, writing queries, self-publishing, and the like, I was woefully under-prepared to understand the world of publishing. What's more, it's clearer every day to me that success as a writer is completely arbitrary. I found my agent by attending a writer's workshop in another city where a college friend of mine - also a writer - happened to be living. It was complete chance that I pitched my book to the one person at that workshop who connected with it.
So I'm blogging in part to encourage all you writers and non-writers out there to keep working on whatever you love, but be aware that finding another person who loves what you do is completely up to chance...AND THAT'S OK! As Hemingway notes, there are no masters here, and that applies across the board no matter what your profession. We're all just doing the best we can and hoping that we'll connect with another someone who loves the same things we do.
This is my "author" website, but I don't think my journey is necessarily unique to those who aspire to be writers. Anyone who has found themselves wondering whether their dream is worth pursuing, whether they're completely alone in their ideas, or whether they have the courage to do something they really love can relate to what I'll be writing about here.
And if you're really into sci-fi, you'll find in me a fellow enthusiast.
What Will I Be Blogging About?
A lazy answer to that question is: Anything that interests me.
Movies. Books. Music. Travel. Life on a farm. Life with grandchildren. Life with grown children. Work. Local events.
But mostly my journey as a writer and how I'm living my second life in the way I want: Boldly, wisely, and less concerned with what I'm supposed to do. Perhaps that alone will inspire someone else to do the same.
I'll be blogging weekly, and I hope you'll return regularly to engage with a fellow traveler on this planet as we hurtle through space together.
Welcome, vagabonds one and all.
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