Write On, An Author’s Journey

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Introduction

Each author’s journey is unique. Over the years, I’ve enjoyed reading how writers started their careers, what made them successful, and their journeys have often inspired me. This book is about my author’s journey, part autobiography and part advice for aspiring authors. I am not suggesting I have a roadmap to success, but I want to share what I’ve learned in my journey.

First, let me introduce myself. I was born in 1954 as Bobbi Ann Johnson. When I married Donald Robert Holmes, almost twenty-two years later, I changed my name to Bobbi Ann Holmes. I write a paranormal cozy mystery series under the name Bobbi Holmes. My non-fiction books I publish under Bobbi Ann Johnson Holmes. I have also written a family saga and romance series under the pen name Anna J. McIntyre. The Anna is a variation of my middle name, the J is the first letter of my maiden name, and I grabbed McIntyre off my family tree.

As I write this, it has been fifteen years since I self-published my first novel, Lessons. It wasn’t the first book of fiction I had ever written; it was the first I had ever published.
On social media, I’ve come across countless videos and blog posts warning aspiring authors not to expect to make a full-time living as an author. That always bothered me because, not only do I make my living writing, many of my author friends do this full-time and make a respectable income.
The first year after self-publishing Lessons, I made almost $33,000 from my book sales. Sales dropped to under $22,000 the next year, yet in the third year, the sales doubled. The next year, it almost doubled again, and the following year, it was over $150,000. But then I remembered four things:

1. Saying I self-published my first book of fiction fifteen years ago is misleading. In truth, my author’s journey began about sixty years ago.
2. In the last fifteen years, I have self-published some fifty short stories and forty-seven novels. Trade publishers purchased the audio rights to forty-three of those novels. I have also published several non-fiction books during that time, and a trade publisher has purchased the audio rights to the book of non-fiction you are currently reading.
3. I self-published my first book of fiction at a unique moment in publishing history, giving me advantages that some new authors may not have today.
4. There are no guarantees.

* * *
My paternal grandmother died at seventy-three. At the time she seemed quite elderly to me. Grandma Madeline had smoked all her life. She was overweight, didn’t exercise, and spent hours in front of the television during her last years. She moved out of her apartment and into a senior facility months before her death, where she died of brain cancer.
Why am I telling you all this? Partly because my older sister just turned seventy-five, I just turned seventy-one, and I find it quite shocking that I am just a couple of years younger than Grandma when she died—and my sister, Lynn, is a couple of years older. My sister—who does tai chi twice a week, is trim, doesn’t smoke, and looks years younger than Grandma at that age.

When I was a young girl, my maternal grandmother, Hilda, told me the person inside our body when we are young is the same person inside that body when it gets old and wrinkled. Once, Grandma Hilda was telling my parents and aunt and uncle about some man she knew, and one of them asked her how old he was. Hilda, who was in her eighties at the time, said with all seriousness, “He’s not very old. He’s about my age.”

When I heard that story, I laughed. I’m no longer laughing. Why? Because I now understand what she was saying.
As for why I am telling you all this—I have spent considerable time reflecting on my life in the months leading up to my last birthday. Mom, who was one of my best friends, passed away a little over a year and a half ago at ninety-six. She had dementia the last few years, and I watched her slip away bit by bit, an excruciating way to lose a loved one.
In twenty-five years, I will be the same age as my mother when she died. Twenty-five years. Twenty-six years ago, my daughter graduated high school. Those lived years and experiences don’t feel that long ago. When I was twenty-five years old, twenty-six years was more than a lifetime—but now, at seventy-one, twenty-six years ago feels like yesterday.

Calculating my remaining years in this lifetime, I wonder, will I live as long as Mom or Grandma Madeline? I am not trying to sound macabre, and I don’t fear death because I sincerely believe that when we come to the end of this road, another journey begins. I’m just now realizing how limited my time is in this current journey.

I’ve been reflecting on my life. Frankly, I’ve no regrets. I have a husband I’ve been married to for fifty years, whom I not only love, but who is still my best friend. We have two adult children of whom I’m extremely proud and who seem to be happy in their relationships with people whom I love and respect. We have two grandchildren whom I adore. I was blessed with loving parents, and my only sibling is one of my best friends. I also have a fulfilling career, which is a culmination of my childhood dreams.

Twelve years ago, I wrote the first book in the Haunting Danielle series. Since that time, the series has grown to thirty-eight books, with book thirty-nine coming out in December 2026. The series got me onto the USA Today bestseller list. I have readers who send me emails telling me how they love the series—how the characters are like old friends, and they encourage me to continue writing.
This is not bragging—this is me sitting back, reflecting on my life, and realizing that the dream I had as a young girl—the dream to become an author—came true. But somewhere along the way, I began telling people I started my author career fifteen years ago, but that’s not true. Every mile in my life prepared me for my eventual success, and I actually became an author fifty-seven years ago, not fifteen.
It’s been a long road, and I want to revisit the journey and share it with you—if you’re interested. If not, that’s okay too. Because one thing I have learned as an author, it’s okay if some readers don’t like some—or all—of the books I’ve written. An author’s goal should be to find their readers.
If you are an aspiring author and decide to continue reading, perhaps you will find something in my chapters that will help you on your own journey. If you choose to continue reading, I want to explain two terms I’ve coined that I use throughout the book. They are what I call the pre-eBook era and the post-eBook era of self-publishing. I see self-publishing as having two eras during my lifetime. The pre-eBook era is anything before 2010, and the post-eBook era is anything after that year. Please note, I am not suggesting eBooks were not in existence prior to 2010.

During the pre-eBook era, self-publishing was generally looked down on. Authors were advised to never self-publish if they hoped to trade publish the book at a later date. During the post-eBook era, the perception regarding self-publishing began to shift, with the rise of eBooks and sites like Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), offering an easier way for authors to self-publish and distribute their books. While self-publishing still comes with a stigma, it is more accepted today, and now it’s not uncommon for a self-published book to be picked up by a trade publisher.

* * *
In the first part of this book, I give an overview of my life story, followed by some chapters giving an insight into who I am as a person. The last part of the book will probably be of more interest to fellow writers and aspiring authors. I have not written this book in a strict linear timeline, and the chapters in the last two sections do not need to be read in order, and there will be some overlapping information in some chapters.