I don’t write for money.
By that I mean that it is not the motivation for me working at my craft. But I am a professional writer and therefore want – and need – to be paid for the skills I take to the marketplace.
Back in 2009 my agent suggested I tender a bid to be commissioned for a proposed writing project. I was anxious it would divert my attention from the novel I was grappling with and perhaps interfere with my teaching load, but winter was coming up and the house needed heating (plus I do know an invaluable opportunity for experience when I see one).
I was selected (from, I like to think, hundreds, of hopefuls) and embarked on the far from easy job of turning someone else’s story outline into a gripping narrative, to a timetable I’d had no say in, and with no idea at all as to whether I could pull it off. I’m proud to say that I did. And although I’m not credited on the cover, the name they chose for the novel’s author is an identity I can live with – especially if, as in my fantasy, she turns out to be related to Jean Luc Picard of the Star Ship Enterprise.
