My name is Chrinda Jones, a blogger for Readers Unbound, a writer of fan fiction and original stories and, like a lot of people these days, an aspiring author.
My editor asked me to share with you the front row view of the carnival ride that aptly describes my journey to independent authorship.
You’re probably wondering why a forty- something year old woman decided she needed to complicate her up-coming ‘Golden’ years with the pursuit of something so elusive. If I were pushed to pinpoint the reason, I would have to say at the crux of it all lay the REALLY BAD BOOK I had the misfortune of buying about four years ago. No, I won’t tell you the book’s title or its author, because that would be mean and I don’t want to be that kind of a girl. But I will say it represents one of several terrible book purchases that year, and because I take my book reading very seriously, the lack of care in writing these books affronted me. 
(In case you’re wondering, I did keep the book as a reminder of what not to do and how not to do it.)
I can honestly say I don’t know how it happened, because it’s so unlike me (yes, really), but 50 pages into that particularly bad book I heard a voice, sounding suspiciously like my own, say, “I could write something better than this.” That declaration would normally hang in the air without fear of fallout if it weren’t for the fact that my husband sat on the couch beside me when I made it. His totally supportive answer to my declaration – “I’m sure you can, Honey.” What could I do? The writing gauntlet unwittingly dropped to my feet. My only choice: pick- it up and face the challenge. And oh, what a challenge it has turned out to be.
I won’t pretend I knew what I would be getting myself into, because I didn’t. And I won’t say that I held total confidence in my ability to write, because I didn’t write. Not a journal, not a blog, not a diary – nothing. I possessed only an unwavering faith that if I put the time in to studying the craft, and I put hours upon hours into applying what I studied, and if God had this in mind for me, I would eventually, years from that point in time, be capable of writing a novel. And since then, I have done all of those things.
Now, you know how I ended up with my front row seat on the carnival fun ride to independent authorship. If you stay seated and keep your hands in the cart- I’ll tell you how I approached and survived the Loop-de-Loops of learning to write.
Cheers!
Chrinda Jones
Are you writing a book? Do you have insights you would like to share regarding authorship? Do you have a funny story you would like to share with us about your personal journey to authorship? Please leave a comment below.
Readers Unbound 
Can’t wait to read about your journey–how many readers do you
suppose read a badly written book, know they can do better, and
don’t do anything? Kudos.
Susan Diff
Hello Susan! You know I bet there are a lot of people out there who could do a better job with some of the published books that disappointed them. Up until that one particular book, I was fine with just letting the bad book go and moving on to another, until I read far too many terrible books in a row.
Readers Unbound should take an unofficial poll of their facebook friends to see how many have considered writing their own novel after a disappointing read. I should probably get on that.
Thanks so very much for your support. Looking forward to your next post. Blessings!
Interesting idea! Because I have certainly thought so too, but having tried it, now know it’s a lot harder than it seems. Learning to write reminds me of the time I took secret golf lessons for a year, intending to surprise my husband on his birthday with my new prowess on the golf course. Ha! Let’s just say that, like golf, good writing takes a lot more than a year of study to master. Still, I dream . . .