It was early on Oct. 7, a Sunday, and I was back where it all started, sitting on the carpet of the third floor of the Francis Anderson Center in Edmonds, my beat-up computer on my lap, typing furiously. In a couple of hours, I was scheduled to present “Book Marketing from your Couch” at the Edmonds Write on the Sound conference. Almost a decade ago, Write on the Sound was the first writing conference I attended, eager to learn. Now I was back, with a shiny red presenter’s badge.
The third floor of the Francis Anderson Center has the best views in Edmonds. It’s where, in 2013 and 2014, I wrote three novels. Month9Books published “Damaged Goods” in 2017, I self-published “The Gift of Goodbye” in 2018 under my pen name, and Owl Hollow Press will publish “Narcosis Room” in February 2019.
Edmonds has a reputation for supporting the arts, and I know this to be true. I used to drop my daughter off at Edmonds Montessori preschool on the bottom floor of the Francis Anderson Center, and then walk upstairs to the third floor, plug in my computer and start typing.
When people ask me how I find the time to write books, I tell them that I write between the cracks. Being a stay-at-home mom is my No. 1 priority. But mothering involves a lot of waiting around, often in short intervals. Swim lessons, dance lessons, dyslexia tutoring, gymnastics — I cram in 500 words whenever I can.
The first drafts are never perfect. I usually revise projects at least 20 times, and that’s before professional editors polish them further. But writing the first draft is the most important thing, because you can’t improve on nothing.
A young adult novel is roughly 70,000 words long. An “I Brake for Moms” column is 500 words. If I write 3,000 words a day, I can bang out a rough draft of a novel in one month and still meet my Herald deadlines. That pace is strenuous. When you add revising, editing, book marketing, hosting my weekly writing group and author visits, it nearly becomes too much. But I can do it — because I have to. I have contractually obligated deadlines to meet.
When I spent $300 on my junky notebook computer in 2013, it felt like a lot of money to spend on a dream. But this is the thing I’ve learned about dreaming. Every dream begins with a first step, just like every book begins with the first page.
On Oct. 7, 2018, in the peacefulness of the third floor, I typed a few more words and then checked my sales stats on Amazon before I headed downstairs. My pen name book, “Bite Me” by Louise Cypress, was in the top 10 teen vampire books, competing with titles like “Twilight” by Stephenie Meyer. Not bad for a stay-at-home mom from Snohomish County.
Take it from a dreamer like me: If you’ve ever envisioned yourself writing a book, find a quiet place and do it, write between the cracks and take one page at a time. If I can do it, so can you.
Jennifer Bardsley publishes books under her own name and the pseudonym Louise Cypress. Find her online on Instagram @the_ya_gal, on Twitter @jennbardsley or on Facebook as The YA Gal.
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