To all my current and future
#DCSPeeps (DECIDE, COMMIT, SUCCEED), welcome to my new series in my
continuing effort to inspire, amuse, and entertain you! Each Monday I
will select a new word to analyze how it might apply to our writing
lives and also give you a peek into my childhood growing up in the
swamps of southern Louisiana, so kick back, put your feet up, and check
out my story about TODAY'S WORD:
CHANNELS
In this day and age of endless technology, it's sometime hard to imagine a time without cell phones, cable TV, or hundreds of radio stations jamming the airwaves.
But when I was growing up in that small town in southern Louisiana, cell phones didn't exist, and the only TV we had was a small, black and white TV with rabbit ears antenna that got three CHANNELS.
That's right.
Three CHANNELS summed up my childhood life and if I didn't like what I saw on one station, all I had to do was change the CHANNEL.
Then in the early '70's my father brought something home I will never forget.
My first portable radio.
This was during a time before FM was even invented and I remember the first song I heard on that wonderful invention was Charlie Pride's "Kiss An Angel Good Morning." My mother was a die hard fan of the OLD style country music so the only singers I recognized were people like Johnny Cash, Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, and Dolly Parton.
Finally at around age 16, I discovered there was a whole other world out there...rock 'n roll...and all I had to do was change the CHANNEL on that old radio to find music more in tune with the person I was becoming.
Writing is kinda like those CHANNELS.
Years ago there were only a couple of ways to write and the same amount of ways to get published.
Authors wrote their stories, mailed hard copies to publishers...and waited.
And waited.
And waited some more.
If they were lucky, their stories became published. If not so lucky, it was back to the drawing board.
Today, authors can become published through many venues. Some, like myself, travel the route of looking for an agent to help them accomplish the dream of sharing their stories with the world. Others have options submitting to large publishing houses, small independent publishers, and even a number of options to self-publish your stories.
Many CHANNELS to choose from.
With the right amount of research, any of these CHANNELS offer a way to become a published author.
Which one do YOU use to get your stories out there? And more importantly, WHY chose that particular CHANNEL?
I hope you have an awesome day today because you deserve it!
Children's book author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a
4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a 'ninja' writer of
children’s picture
books, middle grade chapter books and young adult novels by night. Donna
is a BOOK
NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of
children’s books. She is also a book reviewer for Harper Collins,
and a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators. Donna
is a lover of dark chocolate, good stories, and an adoptive mom to 20-pound
guard
kitty in Knoxville, Tennesse
Flick gave me a transistor radio for my 7th birthday. I cared more about the earphone than the music. I didn't have time to listen to the radio because I was running around outside like a maniac with David.
ReplyDeleteLol...maniac is right!
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