Perhaps 'of value' was the wrong nuance.

I want to leave a legacy, a way of looking at the world that offers a different perspective without being sappy or moralistic about it.

Thanks for the encouragement - it does help to be heard.

Walking the tightrope like some of my predecessors (Harper Lee, Anna Sewell, Harriet Beecher Stowe) who gave us great stories and compelling writing in the service of something much deeper without sacrificing story is what I aim for.

The first volume in the trilogy was awarded 2021 Best Contemporary novel by Indies Today; the second was a finalist in 2022.

If curious, the books' website/blog is at
https://prideschildren.com.

Epub ARCs are available.

Lynette, I love it! Yes, yes, yes! Writing does make me whole. And I hope I can help others along the way. But the writing is as much -- or more! -- for me.
Thanks for the comment!

Alicia, may I suggest that there is never nothing "of value?" I firmly believe that there are lessons in everything, even if we're not doing exactly what WE think we should. I liken it to college. We're required to take classes that we see no point in but, without them, we can't graduate. We do the work, we follow through, we take what we can from the experience, and, then, we're ready for the next step. There's a quote I love in Psalms (2:4) which says, "God laughs at the plans of man." I think that's very true.
Your courage and determination are outstanding! You make a difference!

Thanks for the encouragement!

As I said, a race to the finish line.

But I think the Pride's Children mainstream trilogy is needed, and it looks like I'm it.

It IS good to have something that gets you out of bed, even if it is endlessly frustrating because of the cost.

This was NOT the life I planned (I was a research plasma physicist at Princeton when this all happened), but I DID always plan to write in retirement, and it's a whole lot better than not managing anything of value in those 35 years.

Alicia, I truly believe that when the audience is ready for a story, a writer will appear. (Yes, I'm paraphrasing!) I also believe it happens the other way around -- when the writer is ready, an audience will appear. Don't let anyone discourage you because they haven't shown up yet. They are out there, needing your wisdom, experience, and support.
And you'll have it to give to them. 🙂

Debbie, yes and yes. And, when writing is flowing, you are putting your skills and talent to work.

Jennifer, that is SO important! Being felt, being heard, being seen, being YOU, is taking charge of your sovereignty.
Good for you!

NOT memoir - that's a different class.

Not children's books to give kids and their parents the words to navigate real life with.

Not I-did-it-anyway, thinly disguised 'novels' of their prowess in spite of their problems.

FICTION.

But fiction which uses the many things I've learned in living with a significant illness, and which has, in one character, a way for the READER to become a person like me - for a while. To appreciate the constraints that are real - and the ones that are caused by fear of trying to be or appear 'normal'.

Why bother? Because this specific kind of fiction is the second-best way to create empathy (the first being permanently having the disease or similar oneself).

If a reader can do the deep dive of BEING the character because the writer has created an avatar, but then emerges and separates, the experience stays with them, and the understanding of that character changes them.

Because that is dangerously close to preaching or attempting to 'educate' the reader, the fiction itself has to have a strong story at its core, and the disabled/ill character has to somehow be a required part of the story - not a character in it with a quirk.

It is hard to write without the personal experience, and hard to write keeping that personal experience from dominating the story.

But there's a profound satisfaction in getting it right - worth spending what little brain power I have left on something that's been on-going since 2000, with the first two volumes in the trilogy published.

There's not much competition by way of similar stories, which unfortunately also makes it hard to market. I still haven't mastered that part.

Earn some money. I freelance and have little control over anything but the projects I take on and the times at which I work on them.

Living entirely in your head is a sign of insanity until you write and market those ideas. Then you're a writer, an entertainment professional. If the characters and stories are going to be there anyway, I might as well put them to work for me.