My Journey to Being a Published Author – Making a Dream Come True

I have been an avid reader all my life.  My parents encouraged me to read at an early age.  I remember weekly trips to the library with my mother – I would be allowed to pick out three or four books each week, and they never seemed to last for the entire week.  Even back then, I remember thinking how cool it would be to write my own book.  As a teenager, I kept journals, and there was even an attempt at fiction, or rather, romantic fiction, about a soccer player I had a crush on.  Thankfully, that creation disappeared somewhere along the way during one of my moves either from my parents’ house to college, or to my first home – I can only imagine how reading it now would make me cringe in embarrassment. 

The dream of writing a book never completely died, but life got in the way.  There were always excuses – I was too busy, I had a full time job, I didn’t really know what I wanted to write about.  Forget that I didn’t know what I wanted to write about – I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up!  I started my professional life by translating manuals for a computer manufacturer.  Then I wrote and translated ad copy for a magazine about diesel and gas turbines.  After that, I tried being a travel agent for a while.  Eventually, I ended up working at a financial services corporation, beginning as a receptionist and working my way up into middle management.  After fifteen years in corporate America, I had enough, and started to pursue discovering my true passion.  For the next twelve years, I worked in various facets of the veterinary profession.  I loved it.  I did everything from cleaning cages to answering phones to giving injections and placing catheters.  Eventually, I managed a veterinary hospital for eight years before starting my own business, Healing Hands, which provides Reiki treatments for pets and people.  As part of marketing Healing Hands, I began to write and publish an online newsletter titled News for You and Your Pet, and I discovered how much I really love writing.  My thoughts turned to writing a book again. 

And then, along came Buckley.  Suddenly, I had a subject so compelling that all the excuses that had stopped me from writing a book before fell away, and Buckley’s Story was born.  Buckley passed away Thanksgiving weekend of 2008, and I began writing the book in January of 2009.  Rather than going the traditional publishing route, I choose to self-publish.  It was important to me to get her story out to the world in time for the first anniversary of her passing.  I thoroughly investigated all the options.  I knew that I wanted more than just a vanity press.  I wanted mainstream distribution for the book, and I wanted the book to look really good.  After months of research, I choose iUniverse.  They offer what is considered assisted self-publishing.  I had professional help all along the way – from content editing to copy editing to cover design to interior design, and since my book received an Editor’s Choice and Rising Star designation from iUniverse, I even receive marketing support. I could not have been happier with my experience with them.  

I finished writing Buckley’s Story in May 2009.  I’m often asked how I was able to write the book in such a short period of time.  I wanted to capture the raw emotion without letting time dissipate the impact.  Once I started writing, the book almost wrote itself.  It was like something greater than myself flowed through me.  It was inspiration, but it was more than that, too.  And Buckley most definitely had a paw in it, too.

Publishing Buckley’s Story is the single most important achievement of my life to date.  The moment when I held the first copy of the book in my hands was one of indescribable joy.  Making a lifelong dream come true is heady stuff – and it’s even more meaningful to me because by publishing Buckley’s Story, I get to share her story with the world – a story about the important role animals play in our lives by teaching us universal lessons about opening the heart and living a joyful life.