Romance Writers Weekly Blog Chat for August 11, 2015

 

Do you like to read romance novels? Wouldn’t you like to know more about your favorite authors? Well, you came to the right place! Join the writers of Romance Weekly as we go behind the scenes of our books and tell all…… About our writing of course! Every Tuesday we’ll all answer the same questions and after you’ve enjoyed the blog on this site, we’ll direct you to another. So come back often for a thrilling ride. Tell your friends and feel free to ask us questions in the comment box.

Welcome everyone! So glad you stopped by. If you hopped over from J.J. Devine's amazing blog  http://definingjjdevine.weebly.com/ramblings-of-a-writer then thank you!

Today's topic comes to us from Jeanne McDonald, http://www.jeannemcdonald.com, who asks the question "Outside of writing, what is your day job? What inspired you to take on this job and would you ever consider giving this job to one of your characters?"

Interesting question. Two years ago I semi-retired from a career in Business Development for a Systems Engineering firm outside of Washington, DC. We moved to Florida and I finally was able to pursue my passion as an author. For two glorious years I've been honing my craft, writing and rewriting, working hard to be a better author. It's been wonderful. All told, over these past twenty-four months, I've finished a total of three novels and have started a fourth.

But unfortunately, reality recently slapped me upside the head and in a nagging voice reminded me that while... "Writing is wonderful, it's not going to pay the bills."

There's one thing I've learned over these past two plus years and that's writing isn't easy. It's a labor of love and not something that earns big bucks quickly. At least not for some of us.

So, as a yet to be published author (but I'm getting close! I've had a couple of wonderful rejection letters with requests for resubmits once changes are made), I realized I needed to find another job.

The solution came to me after a month of web searching. I love to travel. I love to talk to people. My favorite things about my old job were working deals with other companies, making connections and bringing in new business.

I found a franchise opportunity with Cruise Planners. Founded in 1994, Cruise Planners is the nation’s largest home-based travel agent franchise network with more than 1,000 franchise owners.
What a perfect fit! So, in mid-July, my husband (who is older and already finished two careers) and I
bought a franchise.



I'm just starting in this new endeavor, and I'm very excited about it. The best thing? I can work both of my careers out of my home! And while I need to build a client base, it's fun and interesting, and very much like my old career.

So stop by and visit our new website   http://www.planyourtrips.org/ and if you're in need of a getaway to someplace exotic or right around the corner, come talk to me!

And to answer the final question - YES! I would definitely make an upcoming character a travel agent. I love to write romantic suspense, and what fun to write about love and murder on a tropical island.

Now, hop on over to Ronnie Allen's blog at  http://ronnieallennovel.com/blog  and see what Ronnie has to say about careers and writing. I'm sure she has some very interesting life stories to share.

 Stop by again soon - loved having you on my blog.

Warmly,
Mikki