I have been self employed for over 25 years creating, designing and producing patriotic ceramic ornaments that sold in the Nation’s Capitol. I also sew renaissance outfits, make wire wrap jewelry and create 3D art, painting and sculpting fairies, dragons and dragon bones.   From 2nd until 12th grade, I read a total of 3 books, beginning to end,. I would actually find excuses to skip reading an assigned book. I got so caught up in extra curricular activities that I only had the bus ride to and from school to get my homework done. And that did not give me enough time to read a book. I probably could have made time if I really tried, I have to admit.   “What changed my mind enough to write a book,” you might ask? Well the answer is and was, “a boy!”   My boyfriend, now my husband, had a passion for books. He talked about one book so often that I finally had to pick it up and read it. The book was called, The Hobbit.   After reading it one night, I finally understood his passion. From then on I couldn’t read enough books to keep me satiated. I think I read every science fiction and fantasy book the library had in stock. I couldn’t wait for more to be published. One thing skimming all those books during school had taught me was the ability to read fast. Not quite speed reading, but I could sit and read a book in about 2 and ½ hours. I would and will stay up all night if it is an extremely long book and read for 5 hours straight just to live the whole book.   When I couldn’t get enough books to read, my imagination started to develop. At 52 years of age, my mind is so full of stories that I can not get them written fast enough. This last year I got fed up with sending out query after query and receiving rejection slips. I decided to publish my first book.    The defining reason to self publish was a recurring message on the rejection slips, “We do not publish or handle children’s books.” The funny thing is that the query letters for that specific book included a proclamation that the book was NOT recommended for children under 13 years of age. That one clue told me that the agents and publishers I had solicited were not reading my queries much less the manuscript.   With out backing or extra funds it was a difficult decision to become an independent author and publisher. I spent months searching the internet for information of all it entailed before making the plunge. It was a miracle, stumbling upon the new kindle site at Amazon. When I read about the Digital Text Platform and the opportunity to publish without spending anything, I jumped!   Being self employed gave me the strength to publish and the motivation to stick with it.   From there I was fortunate to hook up with an “Indie” thread on a kindle forum called, “Have you published a book on Kindle.”   Through some great knowledgeable new friends I was also able to publish in paper at Lulu.com and Createspace.com.   When I first held my book, Mother Ghoul’s Curses and Rhymes in my hands, I was overcome. There is nothing like holding your own words in your hands.