J. D. Webb Advises Writers to Never Give Up

Today, I welcome mystery author J. D. Webb to Immortyl Revolution.  He is another L&L Dreamspell author and he has some wonderful advice on why perseverance is important to an author.

Never Give Up

I’m often asked why I write. Most authors will tell you it’s because it’s in our blood. That’s basically true, but I have another reason. I love telling stories, jokes, antidotes, and little known facts. Some would say it’s to be the center of attention, but I believe it’s a desire to be liked. Come to think of it, that is one of Facebook’s appeals. To have everyone LIKE you.

Early on I observed that storytellers were popular. In high school I was terribly shy. My friends have commenced to guffaw, I’m sure. I was shy though. I took to basketball, although at five foot seven, basketball didn’t take to me. And carrying newspapers to make money negated after school activities. So I doodled and wrote in my spare time. I began to collect and tell jokes and at times concoct stories to become more likable.

I’d been thrown into a creative writing class in high school as punishment for some of my mischief and that opened my eyes. I could put my stories on paper. It was tedious. I couldn’t type worth a lick. Rewriting was torture and I couldn’t always decipher my handwriting. Most of my authoring at that time was humorous and my teacher’s only interest seemed to be forcing us into literary works, looking for the next Shakespeare. Early grades ranged in the Cs and Ds category.

Then, much to my teacher’s surprise, a short story of mine won third place in our city-wide short story contest. My grades improved to As and Bs. The story recounted a conversation I had with my younger brother who wanted to hear the fairy tale Cinderella. But he kept asking questions. What’s Cinderella’s last name? And what’s her fairy godmother’s name? Soon my story titled Cinderella Jones was born. And so was my writing career.

Some forty-seven years later my first book became a published novel. At age sixty-five I finally became an author. The point to this blog is to offer my philosophy in life. Never give up. Keep plugging. A goal dreamed can be achieved. But don’t make your goals overwhelming. Start small and then readjust.

Upon retirement I dove into writing full time. All the years of making up stories came to life and I now have four books in print and available electronically. My single goal was to merely finish a novel. No lofty New York Times Bestseller List placement. Just, could I actually finish a novel? Once I found that I could I haven’t stopped. My goal is still to finish the next one.

My latest book, Smudge, recounts the story of Trish Morgan. A paralegal seemingly stuck in a nowhere job with a husband whose mental abuse is escalating. One night she wipes a smudge off her ATM screen and it’s blood. Then she hears a moan coming from the alley next to the bank. Should she investigate? She does and her nightmare begins. Dreamspell has honored me by publishing Trish’s story. Also, soon a short story of mine called The Drifter will be included in a Dreamspell Anthology, Revenge II.

I’m well into my next story titled Gulf Terror. What if the Gulf oil disaster was a terrorist attack by two suicide bombers? And what if one of them survives and lands in Louisiana to cause more grief? Two Homeland Security agents are on his trail trying to prevent another 9/11. I can’t wait to find out what happens.

Never give up.

J. D. Webb 2011

I'd like to thank J. D. for his wonderful post and being my guest today.  Below is some more information on him and his books.

J. D. Webb's website: http://www.jdwebb.com/

Shepherd's Pie (Golden Wings Award Winner)

Moon Over Chicago (2008 Eppie finalist)

Her Name Is Mommy (Now Available)

Smudge available now at http://www.lldreamspell.com/

Stuck In Valhalla (available at Sniplits)








 
 
 

J. D. (Dave) Webb resides in Illinois with his wife of 40 years and their toy poodle, Ginger, losing all family votes 2 to 1. Dave served in the Security Service of the Air Force as a Chinese linguist and weather analyst in Viet Nam and the Philippines prior to spending 25 years in corporate management. A company purge promoted him to cobbler and he owned a shoe repair and sales shop for 11 years. During these careers he wrote short stories and suppressed an urge to write a novel. After making a conscious decision to live at the poverty level, those novels began forcing their way out.

Becoming a full time author in 2002, Dave has garnered several awards. A short story called The Key to Christmas placed third in the 2006 La Belle Lettre literary contest. His first novel Shepherd’s Pie won a publisher’s Golden Wings Award for excellence in writing. His second novel Moon Over Chicago was a top ten finisher in the 2008 Preditors and Editors Poll in the mystery category and was a finalist in the prestigious 2008 Eppie awards by the Electronic Publishing Internet Connection. He is also the Owner and Moderator of the Publishing and Promoting Yahoo group with almost 900 international members.

His L&L Dreamspell Books and Anthologies:

Smudge

Dreamspell Revenge 2 - Mystery/Suspense Anthology - Featuring "The Drifter" by J.D. Webb

Other Books and Stories by JD Webb:

Shepherd’s Pie

Moon Over Chicago

Her Name Is Mommy

Smudge

Stuck in Valhalla