Why Cheryl Norman Couldn't Retire

I tried to retire from writing when I reached a certain age (guess). I really did. But plots and characters danced in my dreams and talked inside my head, wanting their stories told. I pounded out a short story for an anthology and next thing I knew...I was back in the game. 

Why couldn't I retire?

Best-selling author Sharon Sala (Dinah McCall) told me that writing isn't a job--it's a calling. 

Writing isn't a job--it's a calling.

Then it clicked for me. I wasn't working a job to produce books. I was driven to do what I must, what the voices in my head urged me to do. I am called to write, and write I must.

Readers know the difference between a passionate writer and a hack (Sadly there are those who produce without the call, and for those individuals writing is a profession. I pity them.). Think of books that have stayed with you long after you've read them. Those are books the authors were called to write. They loved their fictional people, and you did, too.

I recently signed a six-book contract, my first ever multi-book deal, to write a romance series set in a small fictional town. I've already finished the first two and am deep into book three. I'm loving it!

Silly me. How could I think I could retire?

Cheryl Norman is the author of romance and fiction and cookbooks, including the award-winning LAST RESORT. Visit her author page at Wings-press.com and her site at cherylnorman.com.