It takes a village to raise a (happy) writer

So next on my list of challenges is making Death on Deadline into an audio book. And as usual, I have no idea what I'm doing.

So I'm taking it step by step. I realized right away I would need help with the technical stuff (of course). And I knew I'd need a voice for my protagonist, America Miles.

What I didn't know is she could be sitting nine floors up from me. Yep. In the middle of corporate-land, I work with an extremely talented actress. And all I had to do was ask for her help.

You know, it's amazing. Being an indie author, I pretty much thought I'd be using crayons to draw my book covers and burning holes into my eyes editing my own copy. I wondered if anyone would ever see my work ... I imagined my poor book buried in some Amazon pile of e-rejects.

But it really hasn't been that way. And the key, I think, is networking. I can't say it enough. Look around. Need something? Ask. Your friends and co-workers may be far more talented than you know. I'm extremely lucky - my former career in journalism brought me in touch with a wide variety of talented artists, editors and designers.

But I've met other talented people along the way, as well. Videographers, actors, marketers, other authors ... we help each other out whenever we can.

It really does take a village to raise a writer. And my village is growing. Yours can, too.