by Martie Lownsberry

Created on: November 22, 2009

Some people know from an early age what career they want. They pursue it with single minded dedication. Others, will stumble around a bit from job to job until they find the career that they are best suited for. In my case, I did not choose a career, it chose me.

As a child I had a passion for writing. There was just something immensely satisfying about putting one's thoughts down on paper. I loved seeing the blank lines fill up with words and ideas. However, even from my youngest years I knew that most people did not make a living from writing alone.

Yes, there were authors who wrote books, but I lacked the discipline to follow a storyline through months of writing and rewriting. Being a news reporter too seemed far out of reach. Writing just did not seem to be a career path a girl from a small town could pursue with any real chance of success.

So off I went to college to study to be a teacher. A very worthwhile and noble profession. I studied hard but found that in my spare time I still continued to write. I would write about anything and every thing. New things that I learned, descriptions of my friends, even problems I had and how I solved them. Writing reduced stress and helped me to stay focused on my studies.

After graduation, I discovered teaching was not for me and settled into a series of dead end jobs. I loved working, but knew that maid work or being a playground supervisor was not going to get me anywhere. These jobs left my mind feeling like mush and I kept frustration at bay by again writing. It was my entertainment and my solace.

I got married, raised a family and continued through it all to write. Sometimes, I would write little stories to entertain my children, other times I would write mainly for my own comfort and amusement.

The years went by quickly, my children grew up, and my marriage broke up. Through it all writing became my source of joy and my means of expressing my feelings of failure and my small triumphs.

Eventually I remarried, and was living a peaceful life but still felt as though something was missing. Times were hard and I was working another dead end job, that was both stressful and taking it's toll on me physically. No matter how many hours my husband and I worked, how much we budgeted, we couldn't seem to get more than a few dollars ahead.

When the economy took a turn for the worse and jobs were disappearing and hours were cut, things became desperate. My husband, suggested we find something on the Internet to increase

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