Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes

No one told me it would be like this.

When I formally decided I was going to “be” a writer — whenever that was, whatever that means, I’m still uncertain — I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. I knew writing books would take a long time. I knew writers didn’t get paid much and that in general your chances of getting published were minimal at best.

Always hungry for a challenge, I dove in anyway. At first, I didn’t care about the money or the recognition, I just knew I needed to start getting my work out there no matter the cost.

I was 22 when I started my career as a writer — not counting the three years I had spent before that interning and contributing to various publications in my spare time.

It has been five years, and there are days I feel like nothing has…