My Biggest Reason to Get Published

Was also Probably the Stupidest.

What is your biggest reason for wanting to be a published author? My reasons actually switched places a couple of times, but I’m going to share the main reason, which to me meant the most —and probably was the stupidest.

My first marriage ended in heartbreak and tragedy.  My husband, Doug, was a combat medic and killed in action in Vietnam in 1969, after only eight months of marriage. 

Later, I was married a second time for twenty years. I worked to put him through a two-year Masters program in Business Administration at the University of Notre Dame. I raised three daughters, and never complained when we moved every four years to a new city and state to advance his career.

One thing I grew to resent was when he said, “You wouldn’t understand. You’re just an H.S.G.”  (high school graduate).  My God, I hated hearing that. It was his answer to a lot of things ...

“You wouldn’t understand. You’re just an H.S.G.”

While my daughters were growing up, I kept spiral notebooks handy and as they and their friends said and did clever, cute things, I wrote about them in my notebooks.

I also loved making up bedtime stories. The girls loved them and wanted to hear them night after night. Some of the notebooks held my adult short stories and flash fiction, too, which I also loved writing.

I was unhappy in the marriage. More than once I called divorce attorneys and each time he said things like, “You’ll never make it without me. I’ll see you on Welfare if you leave. You’re just an H.S.G. —you’ll beg me to take you back.”

It eventually got to a point where I didn’t care if I had to go on Welfare. I would rather live homeless, than stay in the marriage. After two years of fighting every step of the way, I got the divorce. 

For a while, I worked three jobs, but I made it. I continued to write and fill my notebooks, too. The day finally came when I sent my first manuscript of poetry for children to publishers. I wanted to be published so bad I could taste it.  If I got a rejection, I sent the manuscript to another publisher. It took six months, but at last I got a contract, a check, and my first book was being published.

The first thing I did was mail my ex-husband a copy of my book. I stuck a yellow Post It Note on the front cover and this is what I wrote:

“Not bad for an H.S.G. …”

My point had been made.

Published Poet/Writer/Author of 5 books.
Quora Top Writer 2018.
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