When you were younger, did you know what you wanted to do with your life? Did you have great goals and aspirations? Did you want to be famous? I wanted to be a cowgirl. And I was–for awhile. It’s hard work and no real time off. (My dad and I bred and trained Quarterhorses.) Then I wanted to be a police officer. I set out to do that but back in those days, being a female and getting on with a department was tough. There was lots of pushback–not big enough, strong enough, etc. That’s basically true. Luckily, not one dude said that women weren’t smart enough. 🙄 Still, I applied, I tested, and I was on the cusp of getting hired when my life took a different direction, as lives do sometimes. Oddly, I never once thought I wanted to be a writer. Accroding to the Universe,

Those who achieve great things, defeat long odds, and become legends, Silver, didn’t have anything you don’t have.

They just kept showing up, expecting a miracle, long after everyone else got practical.

Here comes one now…!
The Universe
© www.tut.com

And, oh, we love when that happens, Silver. Great excuse for a rainbow, a snow day, or a shooting star.

Don’t get me wrong, I had (and still have!) a vivid imagination. I made up stories. Sometimes, I wrote them down. Then a friend told me I should write a book. I wrote several. (I’m not counting the fanfiction I wrote in junior high that starred my best friend, me, Davy Jones (of The Monkees fame) and Peter Noone (Herman of Herman’s Hermits). And yes, you have to be as old as dirt–like me–to know who they are–or you had cool pareents. Either one. Ahem. Anyway. A few years went by and I met this guy at work–different judicial offices, same state government building. We got to be friends. He was in law school. I was also a big fan of the The Executioner series of books–Mack Bolan bad-ass SpecOps Viet Nam soldier who’s family is slaughtered by the Mafia so he goes AWOL and brings the war home. I decided I could create an all-female unit that sort of did that, only they ended up working for a DoD think tank testing these crazy military inventions. My friend was interested so I’d write a chapter and give it to him to read. He convinced me to send it to Don Pendleton’s publisher (Gold Eagle, which was a subsidiary of Harlequin.) They liked my writing but couldn’t figure out how to market the book/series, but please keep them in mind. So then I wrote a romantic suspense (which STILL might see the published light of day eventually). That one went to Harlequin. I still have the rejection letter. Twenty-plus years after that (and after marrying the guy who liked my idea and wanted to read the chapters), I got a phone call from Harlequin wanting to buy COWGIRLS DON’T CRY.

Hey, I’m writer. There’s no way I can make a long story short. And yes, I’m quite capable of making a short story long. 🤣 Bottom line is, dream big. Work toward that dream and your goals. If I can get there, anyone can. What about y’all? Do you want to be famous and if so, for what?