My Road To Writing

I’m always fascinated by people who live their lives in a very intentional way. I always aim to live that way, and yet somehow, find myself often stumbling into things that change the course of my life. I rarely seem to take an intentional first step. Rather, an event nudges (sometimes shoves) me onto a path. But once I’m on that unintentional path, I am a master at making it my own. Before I realize it, I’m often skipping down that path like a happy child on a sunny day.

When I was younger, I told a friend I wanted to become a storyteller. I can’t recall what made me say it or why I chose that particular moment to blurt it out, but I do know that I did absolutely nothing to take a step towards making my dream come true. Instead, I did what a lot of people do. I set my dream aside to focus on more practical matters. I went to college and graduate school where I studied public accounting. I started my career in accounting and then became a business process consultant. I got married. Check, check, check.

Fast forward almost a decade when I found myself daydreaming while at work about a character that popped into my mind. Of course, this had happened to me before, but I had never acted on the thought. That day, however, I did. During my lunch break, I decided to type up some of the things I had been thinking. I never intentionally set out to write a book; I was bored at work and there was a laptop in front of me.

I ended up developing numerous characters in my mind and typing up notes for many weeks, which turned into months. Whenever I had some downtime, I’d open the word file and add to it. Writing the actual story simply became the natural consequence of having created all these characters who needed something to do, something to say, somewhere to go, and something to eat!

One day, as I was typing away, my office mate looked up from her lunch and asked me what I was working on. I thought about making up a story about some project but then reconsidered and told her the truth. She expressed her genuine amazement and then promptly refocused on whatever she had been doing. I assumed she had forgotten. But her memory was better than mine because about a month later, she remembered two things: my birthday and what I had told her. She gave me a gift: a bookmark on which she had written: “Go ahead Shail, chase those dreams!”

This is where some people might expect my story to take a dramatic turn. But it didn’t. Because I didn’t “chase those dreams.”

I did the exact opposite. I got busy with a project at work, a new baby at home, and all the other things life throws at you. And would you believe another 15 years went by? By then, I was a busy stay-at-home mother of three wonderful, noisy, mischievous children and the president of a non-profit. My finished manuscript was sitting in a long-forgotten folder on a thumb drive somewhere in my house.

One evening, as I was scrolling through my social media feed, a friend’s post caught my eye. “If you know of anyone looking for a freelance editor, I have a friend looking for work.” The next day, I got in touch with this friend and had my manuscript edited. I made the changes and polished everything up. I then promptly went back to my life and the manuscript went back into its hiding place. That was two years ago.

One late Saturday afternoon this past December, I was cleaning out my nightstand and came across a bookmark under a pile of books. It reminded me to “chase my dreams.” This time, I finally did. And now here I am, skipping down this path as happy as a child on a sunny day.

The Summer Breeze by Shail Rajan 

Tired of her fast-paced life in New York City, Callie leaves it all behind to embark on an adventure that will bring her to a new town, a new home, a new career, and possibly, a new love.

Callie Williams loved the quaint upstate region of New York State where she grew up but left it behind to pursue her career in the Big Apple. After years of working long hours and climbing the corporate ladder, she finds herself unhappily engaged to a powerful politician’s son. All that changes in an unexpected instant and upends life as she knows it. Unsure of what to do, Callie finds herself back in her hometown, back in her childhood bedroom.

Surrounded by her family and the countryside she loves, Callie is more relaxed than she has been in years, yet she feels restless. She yearns to find a place for herself – a new career, a home of her own. A life changing idea presents itself, and Callie decides it is time to take the leap. She soon finds herself the owner of a new business and knee deep in a major home renovation. But that’s not all she finds…. 

The Summer Breeze is available in Paperback, Kindle, and Kindle Unlimited: https://bit.ly/TheSummerBreezebyShailRajan

Shail Rajan – Author Bio:

Shail Rajan celebrates family, friendships, food and falling in love in her debut novel The Summer Breeze.

Having grown up in beautiful Upstate NY, Shail now lives on the opposite coast in the Bay Area with her husband and three children. When she is not busy writing and reading, she loves to volunteer, cooks nonstop, tackles the occasional DIY project, and obsesses over her vegetable garden.

Shail is currently working on a cozy thriller and the second book in The Summer Breeze series. She is also a proud member of the Women Fiction Writers Association.

Connect with Shail to get the latest on new releases and for some great recipes inspired by the Summer Breeze: https://www.shailrajan.com/

 

More Great Ways to Connect with Shail:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shailrajanauthor/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shailrajanauthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShailRajan

Website: https://www.shailrajan.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/shailrajanauthor

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/shail-rajan

 

 

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: On Writing