Is Your Life Whispering to You?
By Cheryl Shireman
I believe life whispers to you and provides
direction. I call that life force God. You can call it whatever you want, but
there is no escaping it. If we are open, and brave enough to say yes, life will
take us in directions we never expected, and you will live a life beyond your
wildest dreams.
Those whisperings often come in the form of a
“crazy” idea or a nudge to move into a certain direction that seems odd or
silly or daring. Then there is that moment when you think, Well, that’s weird. Where in the world did that come from?
And then there’s the second moment, when you have
to make a choice. You can dismiss the crazy notion, and probably even come up
with a dozen reasons why it’s a bad idea. You don’t have the time, the money,
or the resources. Besides, who are you to do such a thing? What in the world
were you thinking? So, you dismiss the idea. We always have that option - to
say No.
But it comes back - that whisper. Sometimes again
and again. But if we are practical, and safe, we can squash the notion until it
is almost forgotten. Almost.
Such a notion came to me a couple of months ago. I
began to think of an anthology composed of women writers. An anthology that
would be published before the rapidly approaching holiday season. The title
came to me almost immediately - Indie Chicks. It was a crazy notion. I was
working with an editor who was editing my first two novels, and was also in the
middle of writing a third novel. Working on three books seemed to be a pretty
full plate. Adding a fourth was insane.
But the crazy notion kept coming back to me. It
simply refused to be dismissed. So I sent out a “feeler” email to another
writer, Michelle Muto. She loved the idea. I sent out another email to my
writing buddy, J. Carson Black. She loved the idea, too, but couldn’t make the
time commitment. She had just signed with Thomas & Mercer and was knee deep
in writing. I took it as a sign. I didn’t have the time for the project either.
Perhaps after the first of the year, when final edits were done on my own
novels. I dismissed it, at least for the present time. I’d think about it again
in another couple of months, when the timing made more sense.
A week later I surrendered, started developing a
marketing plan for Indie Chicks, and began sending out emails to various indie
writers - some I knew, but most were strangers. I contacted a little over
thirty women. Every one of them responded with enthusiasm. Most said yes
immediately, and those who could not, due to time commitments, wished us well
and asked me to let them know when the book when the book was published so they
could be part of promoting it.
One of the first writers I contacted was Heather
Marie Adkins. Earlier this year, while I was browsing the internet, I came
across an interview with Heather. The interviewer (oddly enough, Michelle Muto)
asked Heather, When did you decide to become an indie author? Heather’s answer
was: About
a month ago. My dad had been trying to talk me into self-publishing for some
time, but I was hesitant. One night, I sat down and ran a Google search. I
discovered Amanda Hocking, JA Konrath, Victorine Lieski; but it was Cheryl
Shireman that convinced me. This is the field to be in. I was shocked (Astonished!
Flabbergasted!). I had no idea that I had ever inspired anyone! To be honest,
it was a bit humbling. And,okay, yes - it made me cry. So, of course, I had to
invite Heather to be a part of the anthology. Heather not only said yes, but
she also volunteered to format the project - a task I was dreading.
As Heather and I exchanged emails, I told her
about how I had been similarly inspired to become an indie writer by Karen
McQuestion. My husband bought me a Kindle for Christmas of 2010. Honestly, the
present angered me. I didn’t want a Kindle. I wanted nothing to do with reading
a book on an electronic device! I love books; the feel of them, the smell of
them. But, very quickly, I started filling up that Kindle with novels.
One day, while looking for a new book on Amazon, I
came across a title by Karen McQuestion. I learned that McQuestion had
published her novels through Amazon straight to Kindle. Immediately, I began doing
research on her and how to publish through Kindle. I had just completed a novel
and was ready to submit it through traditional routes. Within 48 hours of first
reading about McQuestion, I submitted my novel, Life Is But A Dream: On The
Lake. Twenty four hours later, it was published as an eBook on Amazon. Within
another couple of weeks it was available as a paperback and through Nook. Did I
jump into this venture fearlessly? No! I was scared to death, and I almost
talked myself out of it. Almost. The novel went on to sell over 10,000 copies
within the first seven months of release.
As I shared that story with Heather, another crazy
notion whispered in my ear - Ask Karen McQuestion to write the foreword for Indie
Chicks. Of course, I dismissed it. We had exchanged a couple of tweets on
Twitter, but other than that, I had never corresponded with McQuestion. It was
nonsense to think she would write the foreword. I was embarrassed to even ask
her. Surely, she would think I was some sort of nut. But, the idea kept
whispering to me and, with great trepidation, I emailed her. She said yes! Kindly,
enthusiastically, and whole-heartedly, she said yes. Karen McQuestion had
inspired me to try indie publishing. I had inspired Heather Adkins. And now the
three of us were participating in Indie Chicks, that crazy whisper I had been
unable to dismiss.
The book began to develop, and as it did, a theme
began to form. This was to be a book full of personal stories from women. As
women, one of our most powerful gifts is our ability to encourage one another.
This book became our effort to encourage women across the world. Twenty-five
women sharing stories that will make you laugh, inspire you, and maybe even
make you cry. We began to dream that these stories would inspire other women to
live the life they were meant to live.
From the beginning, I knew I wanted the proceeds
of this charity to go to some sort of charity that would benefit other women.
While we were in the process of compiling the anthology, the mother of one of
the women was diagnosed with breast cancer. Almost immediately upon learning
that, Michelle Muto sent me an email. Hey,
in light of *****’s mother having an aggressive form of breast cancer, can I
nominate The Susan G. Komen foundation for breast cancer? I mean, one of our
own is affected here, and other than heart disease (which took my own mother’s
life), I can’t think of anything more worthy than to honor our sister in words
and what she’s going through. A daughter’s love knows no bounds for her mother.
Trust me. I know it’s a charity that already gets attention on its own. But,
that’s not the point, is it? The point is there are 25 ‘sisters’ sticking
together and supporting each other for this anthology. I say we put the money
where the heart is. We had our inspiration. All proceeds would go to the
Susan G. Komen foundation for breast cancer research.
The stories started coming in. Some were light
hearted and fun to read. But others were gut-wrenching and inspiring - stories
of how women dealt with physical abuse, overwhelming grief, and a host of bad
choices. It was clear; these women were not just sharing a story, but a piece
of their heart. I felt as if I were no longer “organizing” this anthology, but
just getting out of the way so that it could morph and evolve into its truest
form.
Fast forward to just a few days before
publication. Heather was almost done with the enormous task of formatting a
book with twenty-five authors. We were very close to publishing and were on the
homestretch. That’s when I received an email. An unlikely email from someone I
didn’t really know. Beth Elisa Harris and I were involved in another indie
project and Beth sent an email to all of the authors in that project, including
me. She attached a journal to that email. For whatever reason, Beth had been
inspired to share a journal she wrote a few years ago. She cautioned us to keep
her confidence and not share the journal with anyone else. I tend toward privacy and don't tend to trust easily. This is a HUGE
step for me. I've only read it once since I wrote it. Intrigued, I opened
the journal and began reading. It dealt with her diagnosis, a few years back,
with breast cancer! Before I was even one third of the way through the journal,
I felt I should ask Beth to include this journal in the Indie Chicks anthology.
It was a crazy notion, especially when considering her words about privacy and
trust. We didn’t even know each other, how could I ask her to go public with
something so personal? I tried to dismiss the notion (are you noticing a
pattern here?), but could not. I wrote the email, took a deep breath, and hit
send. She answered immediately. Yes. Most definitely, yes.
Indie Chicks: 25 Women 25 Personal Stories, with
foreword by Karen McQuestion and afterword by Beth Elise Harris, is now
available through Barnes and Noble and Amazon. The book includes personal
stories from each of the women, as well as excerpts from our novels. And it
began as a whisper. A whisper I did my best to ignore.
What whisper are you ignoring? What crazy notion
haunts you? What dream merely awaits your response? I urge you, say Yes. Live
the life you were meant to live. Say yes today.
Stories included in Indie
Chicks:
Foreword by Karen
McQuestion
Knight in Shining Armor by
Shea MacLeod
Latchkey Kid by Heather
Marie Adkins
Write or Die by Danielle
Blanchard
The Phoenix and The
Darkness by Lizzy Ford
Never Too Late by Linda
Welch
Stepping Into the Light by
Donna Fasano
One Fictionista’s Literary
Bliss by Katherine Owen
I Burned My Bra For This?
by Cheryl Shireman
Mrs. So Got It Wrong Agent
by Prue Battten
Holes by Suzanne Tyrpak
Turning Medieval by Sarah
Woodbury
A Kinky Adventure in
Anglophilia by Anne R. Allen
Writing From a Flour Sack
by Dani Amore
Just Me and James Dean by
Cheryl Bradshaw
How a Big Yellow Truck
Changed My Life by Christine DeMaio-Rice
From 200 Rejections to
Amazon Top 200! by Sibel Hodge
Have You Ever Lost a Hat?
by Barbara Silkstone
French Fancies! by Mel
Comley
Life’s Little Gifts by
Melissa Foster
Never Give Up On Your
Dream by Christine Kersey
Self-taught Late Bloomer
by Carol Davis Luce
Moving to The Middle East
by Julia Crane
Paper, Pen, and Chocolate
by Talia Jager
The Magic Within and The
Little Book That Could by Michelle Muto
Write Out of Grief by
Melissa Smith
Afterword by Beth Elisa
Harris
Indie Chicks is available
for your Kindle on Amazon and your Nook on Barnes and Noble. You may also read
it on your computer or most mobile devices by downloading a free reader from
those sites.
Follow our Indie Chicks hash
tag on Twitter! #IndieChicksAnthology
