People sometimes ask me, “What made you decide to write and publish a book?”
The funny thing is, I didn't.
I'd been writing stories for a while, mostly because I needed to get them out of my head. I had no plans to publish them. Ever.
At the time, I didn't even know how easy self-publishing had become. I still thought becoming a published author meant finding an agent, submitting manuscripts, collecting rejection letters, finding a publisher... all of that.
Then one day I was at work.
Things were a little slow, and I was rewriting part of one of my stories when I thought of something funny one of the characters could say.
I started working out the wording in my head and laughing while I typed.
Now, there's one important detail you need to know.
My boss's office door is directly behind me.
Apparently, he'd heard me laughing and came out to see what was so funny.
I was so absorbed in the rewrite that I had absolutely no idea he was standing behind me reading over my shoulder until suddenly—
“Scroll up.”
I think I levitated.
After I landed back in my chair and my soul returned to my body, he said it again.
“Scroll up.”
I told him I'd just send him the PDF when I finished it.
“Nah. I'll wait for it to come out in print.”
I explained that it wasn't coming out in print. I wasn't publishing it. I'd just send it to him.
He'd wait.
And thus began a ridiculous little standoff.
“When's the book coming out?”
“I'll send you the PDF.”
“I'll wait.”
Over and over.
Eventually, I discovered that Amazon actually allowed people like me to publish their own books.
So I published it.
Mostly to shut him up.
Which worked.
Sort of.
Because then I kept writing. And publishing.
And somewhere along the way, something happened that I never expected.
People started reading them.
Not people who knew me. Readers.
They left reviews. They talked about characters. They connected with moments I'd written alone somewhere because the story wouldn't leave me alone until I put it on paper.
Recently, I said to my boss, “I'm only going to say this one time.”
He looked at me. “What?”
“Thank you. For convincing me to publish.”
He just smiled.
I told him about the reviews I'd been discovering on Goodreads—another author feature I didn't even know existed until someone told me to go look—and how strange and wonderful it was seeing people connect with my stories.
I still write because the stories get into my head and demand somewhere to go.
But now I know there might be someone waiting on the other side of the page.
And I never expected how much that would mean to me.
P.S. Since you've made it all the way behind the Stories…
Use code ACCIDENTALAUTHOR in my bookstore for $3 off one book through October 30. If you've been curious about one of my worlds, consider this your invitation to step inside.