Welcome Susan Edwards

Susan joined Greyhaus last Spring and we have been hard at work at a lot of new projects. She has stopped by to say hi and answer a few questions. My challenge to you??? Keep her busy with a lot of questions!

Welcome Susan...

LIFE IS CHANGE, GROWTH IS OPTIONAL, CHOOSE WISELY
anonymous

We’ve all heard that there are two things we can rely on in life: death and taxes. Well, for writers, there is another.

Change.

Change is a constant in the publishing world and if we as writers/authors do not change, then we dry up and fade away like a pile of autumn leaves.

Most people do not like change because change is scary but I have always embraced change whether it is a new home or rearranging my house or even a new job. Change freshens my life. It is a renewal of heart, mind and soul--a breath of fresh air to chase away the stale and stagnant.

In the publishing world, what’s selling now will eventually fade away to be replaced by something new and fresh. Or perhaps something old will be reborn. Like historicals, angels, time travels and ghosts. Think of the writing world as a big circle with cycles and seasons. Nothing remains the same.

If we accept that our industry is always shifting and changing, then we as writers/authors must be prepared not to just ride those winds of change but to grow as writers for styles of writing also change. Today’s author must be prepared to change and keep up even if it means reinventing ourselves to keep pace with the changes in our world.

While writing White Vengeance, book 11 in my White Series, I felt as though I was slogging through muck. Each word, each scene was a struggle. I loved the characters, loved the story, but something was happening to me as a writer–I was growing and changing yet my White books were not. At least not much.

My books always had a bit of the mystical with the use of visions, gifts of sight and other aspects of Native American culture. As the series grew, I wanted as a writer to explore the mystical aspects of Native American beliefs and go deeper into the mystical world yet my books were historicals, not paranormals. Suddenly, I had a choice: continue to fight the change happening within me as a writer or give in and grow as a writer.

So I wrote something new. Summer of the Eagle is still a Native American Historical but I let the paranormal, the mystical world bloom. And I had fun. I loved the book, the characters, the writing. The change in myself, my writing attitude was a wondrous feeling. I knew then that as a writer I had to embrace change–let myself grow.

I gave myself permission and the freedom to grow and change. It was a scary step that involved taking some time off writing to really think about what I wanted for myself and my writing. I discovered that I needed to write, loved to write and so I allowed myself time to really create the SpiritWalker world that I’d just barely touched upon in Summer of the Eagle.

This process took a couple years, but I believe that by listening to my inner voice, I choose wisely. I have a new series that I love, that has pushed me to grow as a writer and will continue to for some time and I also know that I can return to my beloved White Series with a fresher heart and mind.

No matter what we write, how well we write it, we change because life is change. However, growing as a writer is completely up to us. We can resist, refuse or embrace. We can listen to our inner voice or ignore it. The choice is ours.

While we have to write what is selling, we can still grow as writers. It takes courage to look at our writing career and admit that we’ve grown stagnant. What we do about it is up to us.

Life is Change. Growth is Optional. Choose Wisely. I love this for it is so true. My challenge to you: Look for change. Find it. Embrace it. Then grow with it for I believe if you do this, you’ll have the ride of your life on that wonderful, exhilarating, and oftentimes crazy roller coaster called Life.


Susan