Any author can tell you, there are many ups and downs to writing. Like any career, there are victories and defeats of many shapes and sizes, some that dump you right on your ass. When I began writing, I thought all I needed was to publish a book, and I would be set. If only I could whack myself upside the head, I would. I celebrated my first contract, rightly so, but signing a contract is only the beginning.

One day, I’m frustrated with a marketing problem, the next I’m celebrating a positive review. Some days, writing makes me feel bi-polar like I’m on a roller coaster that I just can’t get off. Yet, that is life, good, bad, and ugly. We dance in the rain and when it starts to hail pull out the umbrella.

I write because I love it, and most writers I know feel the same way. It reminds me of Neil Gaiman’s quote about love:

This is writing in a nutshell, if you really love it. We go through the anxiety, depression or discouragement, because our love of writing drives us to keep going. The love of art pushes us to create. Hopefully, we have some good friends to pick us up along the way.