Ask Nadia: At what point did you KNOW this was what you absolutely HAD to do?

This is a new feature I'm trying out. When I get questions -- about anything -- I'm going to try to answer them on Wednesday.

So here's this week's question from a fan:

At what point did you KNOW this was what you absolutely HAD to do?

Honestly speaking, I've never felt like this is what I absolutely had to do. Rather, it was more like this is what I kept coming back to because when I'm not writing I miss it.

When I graduated from college, I honestly thought I'd do the corporate America thing, make good money and retire. And the pay and perks were fabulous for a fresh-out-of-college kid in her early twenties. But it wasn't right for me. I didn't like having to lay people off, for one thing, because it wasn’t laying off some high school kid doing a summer job. We're talking about hundreds of people in their mid- to late thirties and forties with children and mortgages to pay for. I understand the economic imperatives behind work like that, but that didn’t make it any easier to do. After a couple of years, I felt like my soul was shrivelling up.

And even when I wasn't part of the team that laid off people, I just never felt like I was making any real difference or making things better. So I quit after three years to become a writer. (My mother was flabbergasted by this decision and -- in typical tiger-mom style -- said, "You're too smart to be a writer!")

I'm not sure if I'm ever going to make as much money as I would have if I'd stayed at my job and did the whole career track and whatnot. But I'm not hurting anybody -- nobody's gotten fired because of my writing. And getting notes from readers who tell me my writing gave them enjoyment -- just plain made them feel good -- is more or less priceless. And you know what? That's what I want from my work. I want people to feel good as a result of it. So that's why I keep coming back to writing because that's how I can do that.

If have any questions about me, my writing, books, characters or anything else, feel free to drop me a line by leaving me a comment, using the contact form or via Facebook or Twitter. I reserve the right not to answer if the topic happens to be politics or religion. But anything else is more or less fair game. Thanks!

© 2008 - 2014 Nadia Lee. All Rights Reserved. Visit nadialee.net for more great content.



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Books Available by Nadia Lee

Sweet in Love (Hearts on the Line Book 4)

Redemption in Love (Hearts on the Line Book 3)

Reunited in Love (Hearts on the Line Book 2)

Vengeful in Love (Hearts on the Line Book 1)



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