I’m Christy Mann. The author.
This is my story
I have dreamed of being a professional writer since I was 13 years old. It was the exact moment I decided what I wanted to be when I grew up. I remember it like it was yesterday. Cliche I know, but it’s true.
I was standing at the cash register in Barnes and Noble with a Stephen King novel in my hand and had the thought ‘it would be the coolest thing ever to have someone standing at a cash register buying a book with my name on it one day’.
The Spark
That moment took place in 1989. Like most people wanting to become famous authors in their lifetime, my career choice was not well supported. I was told to do well in school, get a good paying job, and hopefully live the American Dream before I die instead. It would be easier and more lucrative. I won’t tell you how much of a struggle that was for me. If you have ever told anyone in the last 30 years that being an artist for a living is what you wanted to do with your life, you know what I mean.
I wrote every chance I got. It was mostly very long letters, journals, and poetry but I was writing. I wrote instead of doing homework in my notebooks. When I had my own children I would steal their notebooks to write. It wasn’t until my adopted daughter challenged me to do NaNoWriMo in 2013 that I actually considered writing for public consumption. I shifted gears and wrote my first novel. God it was awful!
It sparked something though. I kept at it and after a few years, I self-published my first book in November of 2016.
The Result
Excited as hell doesn’t begin to describe how it feels a short 3 years later. As of this writing, I’m up to 8 books (with more on the way) and all but 2 of them are available at BarnesandNoble.com among other places.
It is not how I originally pictured the goal but the industry has changed a lot since 1989 and things are possible that weren’t back then. People are buying and reading my books that they got from Barnes & Noble!
It is still a dream for someone to be standing in an actual store (preferably a Barnes & Noble), ready to check out, with my book in their hand. I can only hope that when they do, they take a selfie and send it to me! I’m working on making that a reality as we speak.
Writing to live happy
Writing is therapy for me. Not just a coping skill, but a way to really get things inside out and away from me so I can process them without actually being affected by them. I journal to capture the emotions, then I write stories around them in a way that is out and away from myself. Usually in the most dark and dreadful ways possible.
Family and life outside of writing
I’m contently single. I share my bed with a large stuffed unicorn named Droonie, and the house with my daughter and her girlfriend, a guinea pig, 2 dogs, 3 cats, 20 fish, a blue craw fish I lovingly call Fish Bait, and a partridge in a pear tree. It’s a beautiful life. I have the freedom to live it on my terms and it makes a huge difference in my level of happiness compared to 3 short years ago. I can say I’m living my dream!
You are about to enter into me living life on my terms and helping others do it too. I’m developing the For Writers program to help other authors build solid foundations in professionalism and customer service because it’s where my background is.
I worked 13 years in customer service in every field from waiting tables to truck driving. I didn’t realize how much more important it was in the writing industry until I was knee deep in with a publisher and had to pull contracts because my professional reputation was at stake. I hope to help new authors build things from the ground up, but also be a guide for authors later in the game avoid some of the pitfalls I have encountered along the way.
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