Week 16—Marketing for Romance Writers 52-Week Challenge Blog Hop #MFRWauthor
Topic: My Biggest Dream in Life
Folks, I am living my biggest dream in life, up to now. I call myself a full-time writer. Each day on the job for more than thirty years, I hoped, dreamed that one day I’d stay home and write full time. The lucky day finally came in 2011. Retirement! My dream came true, but little did I know one day I’d need my book royalties to survive.
At work, I’d scratch out a few of my words before they slipped from my mind forever, but this wasn’t enough. They needed to be chapters, not words. Fortunately, my vacation schedule allowed me to write all summer and holidays, but returning to work in September caused an ache inside. My dream seemed out of reach. I wanted my dream, even if it meant doing nothing more than entertaining myself.
The topic is for My Biggest Dream in Life, but I have other writing dreams not yet fulfilled— Why not write them here now?
- To become a New York Times Best seller.
- To make the USA Today Best Selling List.
You get the picture. It isn’t something I dwell on, but it’d be nice. The way the New York Times has changed their rules, this isn’t going to happen. Who is happy about this change? Not romance writers and certainly not Romance Writers of America®. Thank you RWA for sticking up for us.
In reality, having a ton of readers who love my books, is more important to me than hitting one of these lists.
At least I can call myself an International Amazon #1 Best Seller. THANK YOU readers for making it happen. The first time I saw the orange Best Seller sticker beneath my books, it took me over the rainbow. Can you imagine what would happen if I’d hit one of the bigger ones. Another dream come true? Sure it was.
Photo Credit: schurch at Morguefile.com
If I can go out on a limb here, another dream would be to see my stories made into movies.
Don’t laugh.
Are there any authors who don’t want this? I see these stories in my mind like a movie, but this doesn’t count. It’s still fun though, to watch my characters run around in my brain. I only wish they wouldn’t when my head hits the pillow. (Not really. Ideas come to me in bed.)
Photo Credit: krosseel at Morguefile
Since I don’t want to sound too selfish mentioning only my dream, I have dreams for both my boys and the rest of my family to be healthy and happy, and to be able to enjoy life to the fullest—to follow and find their dreams. And to have a world where they can live peacefully in their future. Of course, I have my own personal dreams outside of writing yet to come true.
It took me a lifetime before this dream came true. Don’t give up on your dreams.
Thanks for visiting.
This is a blog hop. Please visit the other authors who are participating. I wonder how many have the same dream as my biggest dream in life. I bet when I read theirs, I will discover dreams I didn’t know I had.
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel 
25 thoughts on “#AmWriting The Big Dreamer #MFRWauthor 52-Week Blog Challenge”
storimom2
Congrats on getting the orange sticker! I hit #3 on ARE for a week and was thrilled:)
No, you are NOT alone with wanting to see a book or two (series? LOL!) turned into a movie (and sequel!). I’d love it also:)
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Hi, Molly, I”m glad to see you share the movie dream. Cool, huh? Heck, I think being in the top twenty is good at any retailer. Amazon is the only retailer where I ever made it on any list. Congrats on #3 at ARE and it’s a BIG deal. Have a good week.
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Ed Hoornaert
I’m struck how similar everyone’s dreams are to mine. Like you I dropped out of the rat race in 2011 (early retirement) after pecking away for years and even publishing a few books. Here are my dreams.
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
I thought the same thing, Ed, about how similar some of our dreams are. It was a joy to leave the rat race and getting up at 5:00 a.m. Thanks for checking out my dreams. Off to read about yours. 🙂
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Linda McLaughlin
Glad you are able to live your dream of being a full-time writer, and a big congratulations on the Amazon best-seller status! I think the NYT list has mostly been “curated” which to me means the USAT list is preferable, based as it is on actual sales figures.
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Thanks! Yes, I agree, Linda, about USAT being preferable these days. Thanks for your visit. Enjoy living your dream. ❤
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Linda McLaughlin
You, too, Mary.
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Alicia Coleman
Seems like a lot of writers have the same dream of being a full-time writer. Congrats on making the Amazon Best Seller list. I can only hope I’m as fortunate when I publish my stories. Thanks for the article on the NYT best seller list.
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Hi, Alicia, Thank you. I wish full time writing would’ve come sooner because I’m not getting any younger, but I believe some things happen for a reason. I guess my first big dream was to even become published. Wishing you good luck for when you do get your stories published. You’re welcome about the article. Thanks for commenting today.
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D. Wallace Peach
I think almost all writers share your dreams, Mary. Best Sellers (which you already have!), movies (I’m waiting for James Cameron to call me), income (ha ha), and millions of readers (the best dream of all). Thanks for the lovely post. May all your dreams come true!
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
While reading a few of the other blogs I can vouch for others sharing this dream. Of course, family is high on the list as well. 🙂 The top spot in my category on Amazon is a big deal to me, but to some it isn’t. Getting the book to stay there is a feat. It did for quite a long time before bouncing back and forth. Holding the spot has its ups and downs, but that’s a whole other post. I’m glad you visited today, Diana.
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D. Wallace Peach
I think that’s amazingly wonderful, Mary. Still a dream for me. 🙂
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Thanks, Diana. It didn’t happen overnight, I tell ya. 🙂 It’s still my dream to do it again. Well, I don’t know about a dream, but a hope.
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Teagan Geneviene
Congrats on the #1 status Mary. You had to have been on cloud-9 — I know I sure would have been.
Thanks for the link to the NY Times article. I didn’t know about that. (I guess that shows you my lack of dreaming…)
Don’t just dream big — dream even bigger! Mega hugs.
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Much appreciated, Teagan. I like “dream even bigger.” Why not, right? Enjoy your Friday, and remember your own words…dream even bigger. 😉
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maureenbonatch
Congrats on living the dream, that is awesome!
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Thanks, Maureen! The road was a long one. 🙂
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Helen Henderson
Congrats on your orange button.
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Helen, Thank you! I’m sorry it took so long to reply, but I just found two of your comments in my Spam folder. Shame on them, huh? I’m glad you stopped by.
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alinakfield
Congratulations on your orange sticker! That is fantastic. And I think, truly, the NYT list is becoming less and less meaningful. The list is “gamed” (er, excuse me, “curated”) and everyone knows it.
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Hi, Alina,
Thanks! I’ve heard a lot of talk about the best seller lists on a couple of my Yahoo loops about hitting the list these days. Because of this, I can live without that dream coming true. On the link I included in this post to Publishers Weekly, some of the comments were interesting. Thanks for stopping by. I’ve been checking my formatted copies for my upcoming book this morning, but I plan on getting around to your blog and the others.
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Meka James
I never knew about the rules for the best seller lists. I do remember seeing lots of talk about the change to it. Congrats on making the Amazon bestseller list! That is a huge accomplishment and you know it came from readers buying and loving what you produced.
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Hi, Meka, Thank you. I wouldn’t have known either because I don’t keep up with following those lists and what is being said about it all. I provided the link so authors could see where it came from since I mentioned it. Enjoy your weekend. 🙂
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apuginthekitchen
In my eyes you are a NYT best seller and ditto for USA. Congratulations on the Amazon best seller sticker, not surprised your books are one of my favorite ways to transport myself out of NYC and into a land of romance and cowboys (and cowgirls). May all your dreams come true my friend.
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Well, now I’m blushing, Suzanne, but your words took me on another trip over the rainbow. 🙂 LOL, if that makes sense. I’m thrilled you enjoy my books. ❤ Your comment sounds like a great review. You're sweet to say this, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. ❤ Enjoy your Fiesta Friday on your blog.
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