First-time Author’s Musings

Guest post!

Lesia A Alexander is a published author and a poet who brings her unique blend of creativity, spirituality, and storytelling to her writing. As a first-time author, she shares her journey of self-discovery and exploration in her work, reflecting on the human/animal experience and our connection to the natural world. With her debut book and other written works, Lesia inspires readers to cultivate awareness, compassion, and a deeper sense of connection.

Writing a book for the first time is not for the impatient or those wishing for exact and predictable outcomes. One of the common metaphors applied to the process of writing a book is that of carrying and birthing a child. That makes plenty of sense, but I also see that writing a book is like raising a child. No one can prepare you for the process, and you never know how they will turn out. And like raising a child, it’s a massive learning curve.

Ten months ago, after working on it for eight years, I published my first book. In the process of writing this book, several considerations emerged as key.

The first is “Why am I writing?” There are many reasons to write a book. You’ve probably heard some of the many reasons yourself. Some may be professional – to establish credibility/expertise, a source of income, or to share knowledge. Others might be personal – creativity, self-expression, and sharing life stories. For me, it was simple. As an animal communicator, I felt called to give voice to the unheard, the animals who want to help us in these critical planetary times. Unlike other failed book attempts, I found it much easier to persevere once I had a clear call to get the animal messages into the world. It stopped being about my wanting to write a book and became something bigger.

Then there is the question, “Who are we writing for?” A common suggestion was to choose one person, the ideal person, from my desired audience. Then I heard a distinctive idea that added another level to my writing. I was invited to write to God. I loved that notion. For me, it then became more like I was talking to my Spiritual Source and sharing parts of the conversation with my prospective readers.

When I first started writing, I was trying to be detached, keep myself out of it, and just report the information. Then I began hearing the same message from multiple sources including writing coaches (Marjorie Turner Hollman), beta readers, and writing group members. Write about yourself, I heard. Write about the context from which you are writing, where the book is coming from, your experiences gathering the information, and your story. And so I did. I became vulnerable. My writing became less clinical (and less boring) and followed the precept that one deep, open, and vulnerable personal story reflects the universal story.

The process of writing is mysterious to me. Sometimes I experience it as a flow on a continuum, as the Muse is moving through me. This is my favorite kind of writing. Other times it’s paradoxical or at the least contradictory. Like with the dichotomy of it’s bigger than me, contrasting with it’s all about me. I am always amazed by the magic of the creative process. Ideas, juxtapositions, and imagery come in like clouds. Sometimes getting to them before they’re gone is a challenge, but sometimes all it needs is a few code words, and it all comes back and starts pouring onto the page. Occasionally, I even intuit and write things that I don’t know are true or don’t fully understand, which requires me to backtrack and do research to confirm the truth of what I claimed. Surprisingly, most times my intuition has checked out.

The other side of this is the painstaking part of just keeping at the writing when nothing feels alive. Thoughts such as “Why am I doing this?”or ”It’s not good at all!” plague me. But time passes and I find myself thinking, “This is good” and feeling the pride of delivering a beautiful and special firstborn. Not rational but real.

It comes to the point where you can’t go further without another eye on your words. Writing partners, writing groups, readers, and God bless them, writing coaches like Marjorie, are a must. After I started getting coaching, the original idea for my book pivoted to something much better and more accessible. Having my writing be accessible is important. I needed to be flexible to allow it to emerge into what it wanted to be, not what I wanted it to be. The creative process is bigger than any of us. With all these helpers, eventually a book emerges, a book ready for publishing.

Ah, publishing—to go with a publishing house or to independently publish, that is the question. To address this question, I attended, over several years, numerous seminars and workshops. I talked to many people. What most stood out to me was that with a publisher it takes up to two years to get a book.

My writing group highly recommended that I go with a publisher. The group facilitator, a published author, had shared about my book with her publishing house editor. Her editor was interested. At that point, neither my book nor I was ready to submit a query. Some months later, I had a strong intuition, “You’d better get on it or you’ll lose the opportunity.” I started to feel pressure and stress. I realized I was not willing to do that kind of push. As a person of later years, at this juncture in my life, I’m not willing to put myself into pressured situations, leading to stress, which affects my life and likely my health. So, I continued at my usual turtle pace.

When I was finally ready to submit, I sent out queries and received no responses. As for the interested editor, she unexpectedly left her position. The editor who took her place wasn’t interested in my book. After eight years, I didn’t want to wait another year or more, so I chose to independently publish.

Having a coach, Marjorie, to help me find a book designer, and also to support me through the necessary steps to having a book in hand, was indispensable. This self-publishing phase was the hardest part of the whole process. I thought getting all the citation issues resolved was difficult, but that was nothing compared to the machinations of self-publishing. I got through it and have a book in hand.

It takes passion, commitment, patience, and perseverance to bring a book into the world. As with all creative projects, there is an emergent element. The book I thought I would write and publish is not the same book that emerged. The one I hold in my hand is better.

What a gift to work with Lesia to bring her work to life. Thanks, Lesia for sharing part of your journey with us!

Marjorie Turner Hollman helps nonfiction authors self-publish their books. She is also a disability advocate, sharing information about Easy Walks (not too many roots or rocks, relatively level with firm footing, and something of interest along the way) in open space. Let’s get in touch.