The Wandering Widow- Day 12

I could never have become a professional writer without Ralph Reed.

About 20 years ago I wrote for a fun magazine that my friend Crista McClure-Swan created for moms who worked from home. I wrote some articles and I had a column called The Reading Room where I reviewed books that I usually read in the tub.

 "The Reading Room," get it?

Anyway, I had always wanted to be a writer (I had always wanted to be an actress really, but some people put the kibosh on that!) and after writing for about a year for the magazine (Did I get paid? Maybe...) Ralph and I sat down and figured out how to make that dream a reality.

"Go ahead and quit your job (as a telephone sales rep- ugh) and figure it out," he said. "If you're published in a national publication, you're a writer. If not, maybe you need to find something else to do."

So two major things to remember: We needed two paychecks and...this was before the Internet, kids.

Off to the library, I went. I studied the Writer's Digest, the market and how to send a query- SASE. 

Within a few months, an article on spec I sent to a very old women's magazine published my story and sent me a check for $150!

I was on my way!

I'm still writing- although it's extremely difficult without my main editor and muse- I hope to continue until I meet up with him again.

 I'm sure he'll have a lot of story ideas by then for me.