You Can Do It, Too!

Hazel Sita acted like she had something on her lips by wiping them with her napkin to help her hold back the snicker. She marveled that so much could fit in David Lariat’s bag. He had laid his smart phone on the table with the stand for it, a laptop, cords for both devices. His face was intense as he dug back into his bag, brought out a large paper tablet and several pencils in his hand with a look of triumph, laid them on the table. Moving the bag to the side, he started connecting his devices together. Making sure they were facing them as he sat on Hazel’s left. He had the pencils and tablet open to a clean page just to his right.

“Ms. Sita, I can’t thank you enough for this time with you and your permission to record our conversation. I know this appears crazy, but I’ve had equipment failure, internet failure and ended up with nothing, so now I bring everything with them.” David said.

When he finished speaking, he glanced at her shirt and said, “Crap! The microphones. Just a minute, I have them here. I don’t know how I forgot them.” As he picked up his bag and dove back in pulling out two lavalier mics and connect them to his smart phone, handing one to her, taking the other and clipping it to his shirt.

“David, you don’t mind if I call you that?” She asked, when he nodded, she continued, “Thank you for asking me for this interview. This my first interview so, I hope you will bear with me if I seem to fumble or stumble. All right?”

Mouth hanging open and eyes wide, he stuttered, “R-really?! But, um, your famous. I wondered why I couldn’t find any previous interviews about you. Um, if you don’t mind, I’m going to ask as we record, ‘Why haven’t you granted anyone an interview up till today?’”

“Sure, go ahead. I’ll do the best I can to answer it.” She said with a smile.

“I know I emailed you all the questions I plan on asking,” he said as he flipped to the back of his notebook, pulled out a page from a folder tucked in at its back and slid it across the table to her, “I brought the list with me, and wanted you to have one sitting in front of you so you won’t feel blind-sided. Was there any question you were uncomfortable with? If there are, we can discuss them now, before recording if you wish.”

“No, I’m good. I went over them, and they are all acceptable to me. I would have let you know prior to today if I was uncomfortable or wouldn’t be willing to answer any of them.”

David picked up a little remote device and said, “When I push this, everything records, all right?”

“Let’s get this show on the road, I’m ready.” Hazel replied.

David clicked the button, turning to the camera in the phone he said, “Good morning everyone and welcome to ‘Top Selling Authors”. Our guest speaker this morning is Ms. Hazel Sita, world famous and the top selling author of all time. Her book, “Majesty to Majesty,” flew up the charts to number in within weeks of being published, first as a self-published e-book and with print on demand through Azzone.

“I have a list of questions many of you, in our audience, have sent in and we will get to them momentarily. First, I want to ask a question I had not planned on until just before we began.”

“Ms. Sita,” he began when she put her hand on his arm to stop him, he lifted an eyebrow in question and she responded, “Please call me Hazel.”

“Hazel, you just told me you’ve never given an interview before, can you let us in why you haven’t?”

“Well, David. I misspoke. I had forgotten I had given an interview the two weeks prior to the launch of ‘Majesty to Majesty.’ But none since then. The person who interviewed me didn’t want to interview me about how I got to where I am or what my book was about. They only wanted to ask questions offensive to me.

“The reason I am here with you is that you sent me recordings of other interviews you had done, plus a list of potential questions. And you included a legal document saying, unless I allowed it, you would ask no other questions. Plus, your questions were about how I got here and my book. Nothing untoward.”

David had a surprised look on his face when he asked, “I hope you don’t mind my asking, but none of the others did what I did?”

“No, they didn’t. And after that first experience, I am leery of exposing myself to something like that again.”

“I can understand that, and as a journalist and interviewer I am appalled something like that happened to you. I want to offer my apology to you for them.”

“That’s unnecessary. Now, what is it our audience wants to know?”

David said, “Number one is, ‘When did you discover you wanted to be a writer, and what led to the discovery?’”

“Let me see. I think it all started with a love of reading. I loved to get lost in the unique worlds and lives of those I found in books, and I believe it began around the age of eleven. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t escapism because my life was crappy or disadvantaged. My parents were happy, I had three siblings, we had a dog, lived on the river with boats. Our friends, about 10-50, would come over every day to swim, ski, and just play.

“But my eyes never stayed where I was. Most of my friends didn’t live in my neighborhood. I always went farther afield to see what was on the other side, if you will. And that is why I read so much.

“I started a diary, too. Wasn’t very loyal to it. I was too busy to write in it, but I wrote memories on my heart. That was also when I thought I could do what those authors could do. I could write. In my minds I eye I could see me with a light bulb above my head with an idea. Writing it down, and poof, I finished a book. I laugh at myself as I think back. I kind of figured it took me only a few hours to read the book, therefore I should be able to write one in just a few days.” She answered, chuckling.

“You were eleven and in elementary school?” David asked.

“Yes, and it continued through Junior High and High School, too. But David, it wasn’t as easy as it sounds. I hated writing essays, book reports and any other thing the teachers asked of us students. I got out of as many as I could by giving oral reports. Some were formal where I had to submit an outline which didn’t bother me. I didn’t have to do any research or worry about punctuation and grammar, much less bibliographies and footnotes. I would be the first one in class to volunteer to do any impromptu speaking, too. Anything I wrote I felt was too personal, showed too much of me and I couldn't stand the thought of a red pen slicing through my thought and life.

“In fact, it wasn’t until I entered the Air Force that I willingly wrote anything. I would write reports on my analytical findings. Those were impersonal enough, and to me, easy to write. Plus, I usually had to accompany said report with a briefing. All those oral reports made it easy for me to stand in front of Generals, Colonels and other high-ranking officers as an Airman First Class.”

“What about later?” David asked.

“Well, after I retired, I started to journal again. And I got a job where I could use my statistical analysis background on the B-2 program. I did some briefings but mainly did written reports, some of which ended up in Congress. And, a highlight of that time in my life, because of what I wrote, I got to sit in the cockpit of one of those incredible flying machines.”

“Let’s move to questions number two, ‘Have you ever been published before, and not by writing for corporate reports?’” David asked.

“Yes, after I left the B-2 program, I became a Church Secretary and the Senior Pastor’s Private Secretary. Under those titles I had a myriad of responsibilities. One was the Women’s’ Ministry. I saw a lacking in women sharing their experiences that helped them strengthen their relationship with God. So, I developed a newsletter for the women of our congregation. I wrote, published, edited, and distributed it. I encouraged others to share from their lives and hearts. Not along after I started publishing the newsletter other churches in our valley wanted copies for their ladies’ too. They approached me to put them on the distribution listing.

“And for a short while I wrote poetry, the very bohemian type. Some of it never rhymed. You’d think I was high on drugs, but I was high on thought of a way to express myself that I had never tried.” She said with a smile.

“Question number three is, ‘When do you feel you started writing seriously?’”

“I believe when I started quietly taking writing class online. Not college classes or university ones. I found a series of classes I could self-pace myself with. Some were free, and some I paid for.

“During that time, I had retired for the third time, and we had moved to the White Mountains in eastern Arizona. I started a business making and designing custom dog clothing, predominately for small dogs. When I physically couldn’t do it anymore-because of setting up and tearing down for markets and other like venues-I retired from that. And that was when I said enough was enough and joined an online group that I could run anything I wrote by other authors and aspiring authors to see if it was worthwhile.

“During that time I did something that not only astonished me but others, too. I wrote a rough draft of over 80,000 words in 60 days. And it was so much fun, so cathartic for my soul,” She said.

“That leads me to question number four, ‘Was your first novel Majesty to Majesty?” David asked.

“Yes, and no.” Hazel said.

“What do you mean by, ‘yes and no’?”

“It was the beginning. For all the aspiring authors listening or watching, rough drafts are a place to start. I had no real clue of anything. The classes I had taken I didn’t turn in homework and never had to re-do anything. I knew I needed to edit it, thanks to the group I had joined, but heavens, I didn’t know how much work that would entail.

“I didn’t have an outline when I wrote-I later found out they call this being a ‘pantser’ writer-I just sat down and wrote. I learned from the group about editors, alpha and beta readers, re-writes, and so much more. All of which takes time.

“I ended up having to go back and make sure I had everything you needed in a book… structure. The things that would make my readers want to read and want more books by me.” Hazel said.

David looked at Hazel and asked, “Do you think anyone will ever learn everything about writing?”

“No, I don’t. I think we are in a constant learning stage. When we stop learning, we are dead. That’s why I jokingly refer to myself as a ‘Grandma Moses’. She was in her late 60s when she started painting and was an artist of renown in her own lifetime.

“I don’t think there is a magic age to start or one to finish. I think once the writing bug has you, you’ll never be happy if you aren’t writing something.” Hazel said.

“How long did it take you to finish ‘Majesty to Majesty’ and do you think every writer can do what you did?” David asked.

“It took over a year. After my first personal edit and some beta readers reviews that I used to do another revision. I then approached an editor. Remember, this is also my first book. When I talked with her, she said she would glance it over and let me know if she would work with me on it. As you know, she said yes.

"In the beginning, she offered me several distinct ways she would edit it and then offered something I had never heard of. She proposed coaching me. I grabbed hold of that idea with both hands and didn’t let go.

“Within a few short weeks I learned so much more about writing and structure. How to lure readers to hunger for more. She also recommended I turn the manuscript into a trilogy and explained why. She knew I had been struggling with the manuscript and felt somehow it needed a big change. So when she suggested the trilogy it resonated with everything in me. So, we started working on it right away. And it now called ‘Majesty to Majesty.’”

“Did you write each part simultaneously?” David asked.

“No, we concentrated on each book, but as you know, we released them only a few months apart. And I will say that I pushed myself to get them out so quickly because I was receiving so much email from my readers wanting the second and third parts,” Hazel said.

David said, “Our last question is, ‘What would you advise any up-and-coming authors?”

“Don’t give up. Join a group, not only one where you can physically go to, but one online. Listen to those who will critique you-not those that just rip your work to pieces. Find an excellent editor who will work for you at your level. I knew I was coming from around a power-curve. Other authors and aspiring authors all had more education and knowledge than I did. I needed someone to take me by the hand, more of a one-on-one tutorial style, while letting me still write it in my words. Always have a teachable spirit.”

Then with a laugh she added, “Remember it may only take hours to read, but it can take months if not years to write. Life happens to all of us. Births, deaths, financial challenges. Some of you will continue to work and write for some time. Others will raise children and trying to write. A few will be like me, have an income from retiring and the freedom of setting my schedule.

“But like one wise author said, and even entitled a book, ‘Stop talking about it and WRITE.’ Because nothing happens until you do.”

“Hazel, if you don’t mind, I have one more question.”

“Ask.”

“What did you do in celebration when your first book of your trilogy hit top in sales?” David asked.

“I bought my hubby the truck of his dreams and started helping other aspiring authors quietly. I would look at short stories and other up-and-coming authors’ books. I would vet them to make sure they were not a flash in the pan but would stick through the tough parts of life and continue to write. When I found those, I reached out to them. I didn’t and still don’t want to recognition for that. I believe in giving back and paying it forward.”

David started to say something when Hazel put her hand on his arm and said, “I would like to add something before we close if you don’t mind?”

David waved his hand at her signaling her to continue, “The greatest advice I can truly give you is, ‘The only person you have to get out of the way is yourself. You will stop yourself before anyone else. So be willing to keep going even when your mind is saying stop. Because YOU CAN DO THIS, TOO!”

“Thank you, Hazel, for sharing, and that brings us to the end of our program. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your questions and being with us this morning. Our next program will happen here and our guest will be James Pates, foremost author on espionage.” David said then click the button on his remote to end the recording.

“Hazel, you inspired me to go back to writing. Thank you for sharing.”

“David, thank you for asking and doing it the right way.”