Welcome Guest Blogger Melissa Ohnoutka

Hey Guys...

Here's another RWA Chapter mate with her book, and a blog about something we all can relate to. Fear. Welcome Melissa and take it away.

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Conquering Fear, Let me Count the Ways

Publishing a book really takes a lot out of you. Mentally, emotionally, physically. I had no idea. At one time I thought you just wrote a book, sent it in and voila! People would love it as much as I did. It wasn't long before reality hit hard. My first contest was a real eye opener. Gulp. I thought about throwing in the towel, but it was too late. The writing bug had me and wouldn't let go. It was just too rewarding and fun to give up. Other mom's look forward to getting out of the house for some physical activity like the gym, running or playing tennis to unwind. Me, I want to create something.

But it's taken years for me to come out of the closet so to speak. I started writing seriously when my second child was born to save my sanity. She's now almost fifteen years old and, even to this day, if you asked someone close to me if they knew I was a writer you'd get this blank stare. Or even a comment like, "Nah, you must be talking about someone else." Then if you tell them you're quite certain it's the right Melissa Ohnoutka (could there possibly be another person out there with my name?) and I write about murder, psychos, human trafficking, etc. and they'd really think you'd swallowed some kind of hallucinating drug. My poor mother still thinks something horrible happened to me when I was little that she doesn't know about. Why else would this weird stuff be floating around in my head? LOL

So why not tell people I'm a writer? Hmmm…Good question. And I have lots of answers, none of which are any good. All I have are a bunch of excuse for keeping quiet. Fear tops this list. But fear is part of this wild and whacky game, right? Another in my top five is blaming it on being shy and not wanting any attention drawn to myself. Speaking in front of people turns me into a babbling brook of stutters, short quick sentences, and sends my heart pounding like crazy. After four years of queries, conferences and face to face pitches, I've learned that being shy and giving into the fear just isn't going to cut it. These challenging experiences are helping me grow and making me stronger. No matter how much they seemed to hurt.

So when Christie asked if I would like to do a guest post, my first reaction was to run for the hills, dig a deep hole and stay there till one of my kids came looking for me. They would you know. Especially when supper wasn't ready or they needed a pair of clean socks. But thankfully common sense and that part inside me that loves to write knocked me around a bit and I realized the error of my thinking. You betcha I want to be a guest.

I owe this new found courage to a great book I came across last year. "Failing Forward," by John C. Maxwell. And it's not just for writers. No matter what your dream is, there is one truth and it rang loud and clear. There is no success without failure. So take those risks. Move forward. And Dare to Dream!

If you'd like to find out more about my new release "Faithful Deceptions" or what's up next, please visit me at:

www.melissaohnoutka.com

www.melissaohnoutka.blogspot.com

Links for Faithful Deceptions:

Amazon - http://tiny.cc/8ceev

Barnes & Noble - http://tiny.cc/5qqd1

Thanks for having me ladies!