I’m at home, enjoying a “pajama day,” after a fairly hectic week when my daughter calls. She needs a blog entry for my website. Kim manages my Facebook and website pages, doing the things I haven’t taken the time to learn, like uploading pictures. I decide to write about what’s been on my mind lately. Now . . . I imagine any writer whose been publishing books for twelve years without ever having a breakout book often has the same thoughts. Why am I doing this? I suppose for me, being an erotic romance reader, I’ve had these thoughts many times over the years. It’s not been an easy journey. But thankfully I’ve had the support of my family and friends and now have a growing fan base—many writers of erotica don’t have this support and some even have to use pseudonyms.
When these nagging thoughts begin to pervade and I start wondering what type of person would put such highly intimate thoughts on paper and then send them out to the world, I remember Marlen.
Several years ago Marlen, vacationing from the “North,” chanced upon one of my books, and after reading it decided this would be the perfect place to move to. So . . . taking a cue from the heroine in the book, she did. She found a sweet cottage in Calabash and settled into the community where she quickly became a whirlwind who never stops. I cannot even begin to name all the things she’s done for our church, for family assistance agencies, shelters, and the like. There isn’t a charity function that you don’t see Marlen hard at work ladling punch or selling raffle tickets. She is the first one to volunteer whenever there is a need. So yes, sometimes I have my doubts about my writing. But if I can convince a wonderful woman such as Marlen to pack up her things and move hundreds of miles to begin a new life, and thereby blessing us with her amazing spirit of community, just by having read one of my books, then I must be a pretty good writer.
Jack DeGroot