You know how I tend to binge-read, right? Well, I found a new addiction. An author I absolutely adore.
Her name?
Cindy C Bennett.
I met Cindy at a thing at my kid's school and she was amazing enough to agree to guest post. As with all my Dream Chasers, I read one of her books to prep and was absolutely blown away. Not even kidding.
Per her suggestion, I read her best-selling book - Heart on a Chain. I laughed, I cried, and then I read the whole darn thing again. I NEVER reread a book after I've just finished it. It was seriously that addicting. Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm feeling the desire to read it a third time.
What have you done to me, Cindy?!
If I weren't already in danger of completely blowing my budget on Kindle, I would snag the rest of her books. As it is, I sneaked another of Cindy's books -- Rapunzel Untangled -- and binge-read that one, too. (Don't tell Handyman Husband. Oh, wait. He actually reads my blog. Oops.)
I can't wait to see what she has in store for us next!
Cindy C Bennett
“Dream Chaser.” It sounds so romantic, flitting through a
field of flowers (with no spiders or other creepy crawlies to be had, of
course), wearing a breezy summer dress in blurred light so that everything is lovely
and dreamlike.
The truth is that chasing your dreams is a lot of hard work,
courage, and a willingness to fall and get back up again.
I’ve always wanted to write. I don’t remember a time that it
wasn’t part of my psyche to want to write. But fear held me back. I spent years
secretly writing the beginnings of novels, not telling anyone of my most
precious dream, afraid of mockery and lack of success. I didn’t ever actually
complete a whole book. That way I didn’t have to actually pursue the attempt to
be published.
I had a long list of reasons why I couldn’t have a book
published: I was too young and
therefore didn’t know enough to write anything worthwhile, I was too busy with my four young children, I
was too sheltered to have any kind
of effective observance of the world, I was too poor to buy a computer or a writing program, I was too uneducated since I only had a high
school degree. I was too anything that I could think of to
avoid risking rejection, ridicule, and most of all failure.
And it makes me sad that I let those apprehensions hold me
back.
Then a few years ago I started writing a story for my
teenage daughters (Heart on a Chain).
When I finished that one, I began a second (Geek
Girl). After I finished them both, my girls asked why I didn’t publish
them. It occurred to me that that was a really good question. Why didn’t I?
I queried several agents, and the exact number of agents I
queried sent rejections. It’s hard to get rejections of something that is not
only the manifestation of your deepest, most precious dream, but also of something
that you suspect is pretty good. The doubt creeps in and your suspicion changes
from thinking it’s pretty good to knowing it’s awful. At that point there were
very few people who even knew I’d written anything because of that deep-seated
fear of being made fun of for something so important to me.
Finally, I joined an online class in how to write a query.
It didn’t help me to write a query letter that had agents falling all over me,
but it introduced me to two very dear friends (authors Camelia Miron Skiba and
Jeffery Moore) who are now part of my 6-years-old-and-going-strong critique
group. When we began our critique group, I don’t think we even knew that’s what
we were. Through them and their encouragement I was able to learn about
self-publishing and decided that was the route for me.
Now, 7 or 8 years after completing those first two novels, I
have written seven full length
novels and nine novellas. I’ve been
published both traditionally and independently. I’ve taught classes on writing
and marketing, I’ve spoken to school groups, I’ve done countless book signings
and sold several thousand books. I’ve had reviews both good and bad (and, oh,
how those bad ones hurt even with the knowledge that you can’t please
everyone). I’ve become part of an author community I didn’t know existed and
have become close friends with many of those amazing people. My critique group
has expanded to include Sherry Gammon and Juli Caldwell. I’ve attended several
writer’s conferences. My two now-grown daughters are still my biggest fans.
I’m living the dream.
I’m also still chasing the dream, because there is no
magical end to this journey. It’s a constant journey, with its roller-coaster
ups and downs, its stresses and rewards, and its good days and bad days. Kind
of like life.
And what an amazing life it is.
Find Cindy C Bennett at:
www.cindycbennett.com
www.facebook.com/authorcindycbennett
www.twitter.com/cinbennett
www.cindycbennett.com
www.facebook.com/authorcindycbennett
www.twitter.com/cinbennett
Bennett lives a most unglamorous life in the beautiful state of Utah. She is the author of several YA books in many sub-genres. She's the mom of two daughters, two sons, two daughters-in-law and a son-in-law, not to mention her three adorable grandbabies and her dog Phoebe. She loves gooey cookies, dark chocolate, and cheesy popcorn. She hates housework and cooking, and has no plans to become a domestic goddess. Her favorite pastime--other than writing--is riding her Harley.
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