Belief Keeps Author Brenda Novak Writing

Woot! New York Times & USA Today best-selling author Brenda Novak is on the blog today and I'm thrilled. Brenda is a three-time Rita nominee. Her books have won many awards, including the National Reader Choice, the Bookseller’s Best, the Book Buyer’s Best and the Holt Medallion. Yes, awesome achievements, but it gets better.

I met Brenda through her annual online auction for diabetes research. Her youngest son has the disease and she's determined to be part of the solution.  The auction runs every May at www.brendanovak.com. To date, she’s raised over $1.3 million.

Brenda has taught me you can achieve your dreams through hard work and perseverance, and one person can help make the world a better place. I'm honored to present Brenda Novak, a truly inspiring writer and person:

Whenever someone asks me what inspires me, I have to say belief (or some might call this faith). If you truly believe in yourself and your talent, you will be motivated to actually sit down and write the book instead of only dreaming about it. You will be driven to seek out any help you may need (research or craft-related) to make it the best you can create. You will follow through with marketing ideas, and you won’t give up if you don’t reach your goals immediately. Belief drives the entire engine—even through the rough spots. It battles discouragement, which is, according to Webster, “to deprive of courage or confidence.”

How many army commanders would win a war, or how many coaches would win a game, if they deprived their army/team of courage and confidence? Now think about the fact that, as a writer, you are a commander of one. How do you treat yourself? Do you allow yourself to be deprived of courage and confidence?

There is a tombstone in Britain that says: “In moments of discouragement, defeat, or even despair, there are always certain things to cling to. Little things usually: remembered laughter, the face of a sleeping child, a tree in the wind—in fact, any reminder of something deeply felt or dearly loved. No man is so poor as not to have many of these small candles. When they are lighted, darkness goes away—and a touch of wonder remains.” In order to be successful in this business, we must hang on to some of that wonder. We can't light a candle in someone else if there is no fire in us.

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Brenda has a brand new small-town contemporary series starting in 2012. Come meet the long-time friends who have made Whiskey Creek the “Heart of Gold Country,” with WHEN LIGHTNING STRIKES, to be released in September. Also, don’t miss her latest romantic suspense trilogy available now--INSIDE, IN SECONDS, & IN CLOSE.

After writing contemporary romance and romantic suspense for 12 years (about 40 books), she's returned to her first love -- historical romance. Her most recent historical release is The Bastard. Check out the scrumptious cover!

To learn more about Brenda check out her website.

So how do you keep the doubt-monster at bay?