Guest Post: Author Joanne Troppello - Have You Been Inspired Lately?

Hello lovely followers! Today we have a special guest blogger treat, author Joanne Troppello. Here's a little more about Joanne -

Author Bio:

Joanne Troppello is an author of romantic suspense novels.  She has published three books: Shadowed Remembrances, Mr. Shipley’s Governess and Bella Lucia. Currently, she is working on her new writing project, The Paradise Redeemed Series. Joanne is married and loves spending time with her husband and family. She enjoys interacting with readers at The Mustard Seed Blog.

Author Contact Links

Joanne's Blog: The Mustard Seed

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Please join me in welcoming Joanne to the blog!

Have You Been Inspired Lately?

Recently I had the pleasure of speaking to a small group of young aspiring writers and I came away from that afternoon very inspired myself.

It was very encouraging to see young people with such a strong desire to follow their dreams. They asked me about writing, the publishing industry, marketing your work and so many other questions—however, the main thing I took away from that moment was to get back to basics.

Yes, as authors, we strive to write the best books and we work hard to market our name and get in touch with as many readers as we can, but are we making sure not to lose ourselves in the process? That’s what I found myself asking as I drove home. I told the students to always strive to be true to themselves and not to try to mold their work to fit a specific publisher’s wants. If they remain true to themselves and write from their hearts, they will find the right publisher who is looking for exactly what they have to offer. The search may take time, but if this is their dream to get published, I told them to persevere and not give up.

I handed out some information on writing websites, tips for writing, ideas on how to journal and some other useful starting points and they seemed to really appreciate the help. One comment from one of the students that really impacted me was that she said—this is my dream and I’m going to make it because I’m not giving up…simple but so true and words for every author to live by.

I’ve been writing for a long time now and every now and then, it’s good to rock the boat and learn from young people—people who still know how to dream. I’m trying to keep that dream alive in my heart…the dream of a 15 year old sophomore student – when my English teacher so impacted my life and I knew this was IT for me. I wanted THIS. I wanted to be a writer and nothing was going to stop me. It took a while for me to get here and I have so much further to go, but I’m here for the long haul and want to enjoy the ride and all that God has in store for my life.

Has anything inspired you lately? I’d love to hear about it.

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Thank you so much for joining and sharing with us Joanne.

You can answer Joanne's question in the comments. I have to admit, I'd love to hear your responses as well. And check back tomorrow for a feature on Joanne's latest novel Bella Lucia!