Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Love Emerson. There’s something so serene in his writing. I love this particular quote because it’s something I’ve tried to live by. Granted, I’m not a famous person, or a rich person, but I do what I can. I spent years as a booster president for our local high school, raising money for the arts. I’ve always tried to be true to myself more than true to ‘conventionality’ or expectations. Maybe that makes me stubborn, or stupid, or a maverick, but I can look myself in the mirror every morning and be happy with what I see. When it comes to my novels, I’ve tried to make my own trail with those as well.
How? Well, I don’t write conventionally. Case and point: Fads. Fads come and go – things that are hot now won’t be hot in a year or two. Right now, erotica is all the rage. So are novellas. My trail is lined with sexy Medieval and Contemporary novels that don’t follow the fad. First of all, they’re long and they’re big. Epic. Secondly, take the sex out of the story and the story, the characters, are still standing strong. That’s because I believe readers really do want a good storyline and not all of that sex and erotica that tend to make a lot of people uncomfortable. Sure, there’s sex in my novels, but as a natural part of the progression of the love story or marriage. I don’t just throw it in there because I can’t think of anything else to write. So while some very fine and successful authors are all following the same path of fads, I blaze along on my own trail by writing what I want to write, and what I want to read, and by staying true to my vision of the kind of author I want to be.
A good one. Fads come and go. I want to stay.
Thanks for the quote, Ralph 😉
