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Writers need other writers because other writers know what it took to write the book, the article, the short story or the poem. Others recognize the creativity, the emotion, the research and the effort it takes to put words to paper that have feeling, that paint a picture. Whether it tears or a smile on the face of the reader, writers know it was other writers who helped put it there. Other writers are more honest about your work. Criticism is meant to improve not destroy.

I wrote a book twenty years ago, but it was only published last year. I went through a number of trials and tribulations with the manuscript. Three different literary agents turned me down. I almost gave up, knowing this would not be my last book. In 1999, I joined the Writers' League of Washington, I am now the president of the group. There I met other writers, some published and some who just like to write. With their encouragement, I renewed my quest to get my book published. It's a publish on demand book, that I have to promote myself, but the satisfaction, excitement and expectation of having your own novel published was what I had always hoped it would be. I am now half way through my second book and I have at least two more in my head. I am also contemplating publishing a book of Police Poetry. None of this would have happened without my fellow writers.

Why do we want to write in the first place, because of other writers? We've all read the books that excited us, that motivated us to want to write. There were two books that motivated me. THE STAND by Stephen King was the first. I'm not a big Stephen King reader, but the characters he created in THE STAND were absolutely amazing. Nelson DeMille wrote a book called CATHEDRAL. It's about Irish terrorists that seize St. Patrick Cathedral. The story was great, the characters interesting, but the action was non-stop. I was never a big reader, but I went through that book so fast I didn't believe it myself.

My book is called, SHAME: The Story of a Pimp . It's about a pimp from birth to death, how he became a pimp, what pimping is all about and the violence and exploitation that takes place in prostitution. I am a retired vice detective who worked primarily on arresting these vultures of the street. In the course of doing so, I interviewed over five thousand prostitutes who worked the streets of the District of Columbia. Bits and pieces of some of my investigations have been incorporated in this book, but the book is fiction. The book is available only on-line at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or Borders.

I seek out other writers in hopes of learning from them. I try to encourage other writers, because there is so much talent, so many interesting stories and ideas that can be explored. Writers really can not survive without other writers. It would be like writing in a vacuum.

Learn more about this author, Joseph Haggerty Sr..
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