As I work on my book sometimes I wonder why I think I can do this, even though I’m so far through it that it’s like swimming across a river and before you get to shore thinking, “I can’t do this” and you just stop swimming.

So I went off to see what some famous, successful authors did before they published their first books:

J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter)
Researcher for Amnesty International, then unemployed when she published her first book.

James Patterson (Along Came a Spider and like three hundred others)
Worked in advertising, began writing while working then retired to continue

Dan Brown (The DaVinci Code, Angels and Demons)
Seriously, he was a musician. Really. Even released a CD or two. Then he became an english teacher.


John Grisham (The Client, The Pelican Brief)
Ok, no surprise here. He was a lawyer.

E.L. James (50 Shades of Gray)
Was a television executive in London before starting writing fan fiction.

Tom Clancy (Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, etc)
Ran an independent insurance agency

Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
Fighter pilot and intelligence officer in the British Royal Air Force

I can do this.