Why and how I started writing.

I must begin by saying that I was not one of those people who always wanted to be a writer. I had dabbled in a few stories on no consequence when I was first married, but it never amounted to anything. Then one day after my husband and I watched the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice with Column Firth, I was smitten.
My husband, too, enjoyed the movie very much, especially the subtle English humor and asked me when the movie ended, “What happens after that?” I
I admitted that I didn’t know but went downstairs to my computer, absolutely inspired to make up a story about how the Bennett sisters faired (I eventually changed the story from a J Austin follow up to one of my own). This was in 1998. At the time I was a marketing director with a high profile in the business community in Ventura County, CA. However, my enjoyment with the position I held was beginning to fade. I had done some corporate writing, but I soon found out that it had little to do with writing fiction.
The programs on television never impressed me nor did the stupid commercials; it seemed to be a good reason to stop watching TV altogether. Instead, I thought that perhaps I could write something that was worth watching or reading. Hence, I begin to write every day after work and late into the nights. I loved it and found that it challenged me more than anything I had ever done, with the exception of my Bible studies, which I have done daily since 1984 when I was born again.
Six months later I quit my job so that I could write. Of course, my nasty boss and many of the other employees laughed! Until I retired in 2008 I had various management positions in the retail world and later when my husband and I moved to Sacramento, CA I worked as an office assistant with two different financial institutions.
Writing was so much fun, and I was wholly and completely inspired by the Lord. I know this because the words and ideas just poured from me, beginning at age 54 - someone who never thought of writing a book. I was mesmerized by how difficult it was to make the words in my brain come out on paper in story form.
On my next blog I will tell what my husband thought of my writing abilities.