I'm always tickled when I receive a letter from a complete stranger complimenting my writing or requesting permission to quote an excerpt from them. No matter where I am in my writing career, whether still doubtful of my abilities or an accomplished author, these messages boost my morale and double my energy to keep pursuing a profession with unpredictable results. Writing is a mad person's passion. Precious hours go to waste when an article is not accepted or a book lags on the publishers' circuit for a long time. Yet there are days when the unexpected happens.

Why this crazy pursuit of the unknown? What is it that drives artists and writers to realize an impossible dream? Is it the challenge? Self-actualization? The need to prove oneself? To save the world? To acquire fame and fortune? Or is it rather an illness, a fixation, dementia..

I wonder if writers write because they feel incomplete and look for their lost soul, or they write to share their feelings with the world, to communicate with kindred souls, to offer a panacea to sufferers by exposing their own fears.. Sometimes we live vicariously through others, because we lack the courage to challenge life ourselves. Writing is a confession of secrets we would not dare express to our most intimate friends. Sometimes the characters we create are the alter ego we don't dare to be. To me writing is a catharsis, never mind the results.

The journey to reach the acme of the profession may not be easy , but it certainly provides fun and a few jitters. The harder the challenges, the sweeter the victory. One word from an interested reader, and I am recharged to continue my pursuit with new zeal. Stubborn, yes. Incorrigible, absolutely. Volatle, undoubtedly, otherwise how could I reach the unreachable heights?