Guest Post: So You Want to Write a Book, by Davis Aujourd’hui

Today’s Guest Post is the first of two posts on writing and publishing, provided by Davis Aujourd’hui.  Check back tomorrow for the second of this series – and keep your eyes open for more from Davis in the next few weeks, including excerpts and more insights into writing.  Enjoy!

***

So, You Want to Write a Book

Each of you has a book in yourself. After all, you all have your life stories. That is a starting point; at least it was for me. I wrote my memoirs about recovery from multiple addictions and mental illness. It helped me to heal and to learn how to put my thoughts down on paper. You can do that too.

Each of you is creative energy. You may not realize it. Just let yourself sit with that thought for awhile. Then try putting a pen to paper when the inspiration comes. You will be amazed at what can come out for you. It is your creative energy expressing itself.

Maybe you will express yourself through writing a poem. Perhaps it will be an anecdote from your life. Perhaps you will find the creative impulse to write a short story. Okay, that’s a beginning. Try to keep going. You do have a book in you.

Use your imagination. Let it flow as you put your pen to paper or run your fingers over your keyboard. Believe in yourself and you will create. If it’s meant to be, it will be. Whatever you can dream, you can also realize. Don’t allow any negative thoughts or excuses stand in your way. Affirm to yourself, I am writing a book.

Practice every day or so. You don’t have to write much. Just keep at it and you will find yourself moving in a forward direction. Before you know it, you will be on your way to writing that book.

Okay, now the book is written. The question is, how can you publish it? That’s easy these days. While the traditional publishing industry is very hard to break into, there are many self-publishers. Just google that and you will come up with many. Check them out. Many of them will charge you very little to publish your book. You may not have a best-seller, but you can publish your book if you truly want to do it.

That’s what I did. While I didn’t publish my memoirs, I have written several books about a wayward nun named Sister Mary Olga Fortitude. She loves her bourbon and her Marlboros. That always gets her into trouble with her Reverend Mother who is a reformed prostitute. The zany characters don’t stop there. I just let my imagination continue to create my zany characters and hilarious situations.

Once my first book, The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude, was published, I just kept on going. My next book, Babes in Bucksnort, was soon out. I’d never had more fun in my life and I was off on an adventure! That’s when my challenges began. After all, I was embarking on a new career and I wanted to make a success of it. Now, it was time to promote my book and I realized I needed help.

I hired a wonderful publicist by the name of Mindy Schwartz of Full Circle Administrative Services. She created a marvelous blog for me and I began to write articles such as this one. She began to post them all over the internet.

Then I began to get radio interviews. It was an exciting time to revel in my experience as I shared it with my listening audience. After all, it’s no good unless you give it away. While I wanted to make a success of my book, I also want to inspire my listeners to be all that they could be too.

If you have ever dreamed of becoming an author, I encourage you to take these simple steps. You can do it. Dream a little while. Then take some action. Dreams do come true.

***

Davis Aujourd’hui is the author of the Sister Mary Olga Fortitude series of hilarious satires. The first book is entitled The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude.  It was followed by Babes in Bucksnort.  Davis possesses a rich life experience that has enabled him to draw from it in order to create a colorful canvas upon which to paint very human lives. He is a retired social worker, having worked for Adult Protective Services in New York State for nearly twenty years. He developed the characters within his series of books in order to entertain a colleague by using the gift of humor.  As will be the case with Sister Mary Olga in his third book, he is a recovering alcoholic. He also happens to be gay as are several of the endearing and humorous characters within his novels. He can speak from his own experience. He has possessed all of the foibles of his cast of characters who are naughty, nasty, and nice.  Davis lives in Upstate New York where he is currently sharing his life with his partner of seven years. He is socially-minded and spirituality is the most important ingredient in order for him to maintain a happy and successful life. For more information, visit his blog.