Since the late 1970s I have been ghostwriting in the trenches of American capitalism for heavies in the oil industry, Detroit [think Lee Iacocca, Steve Miller, Chris Steffen], and high tech [don't think too much about John Akers]. Then there were and are the politicos whose names I can't reveal. Obviously that was a heady experience to the point of overwhelming. Yeah, those other identities we take on can kill our sense of self and delay our finding a voice as authors in our right.
No, it wasn't easy becoming an author. I put a toe in the water with four ebooks. They did well. Three each had more than a million downloads. Then I put all toes in the water with a short novel THE FAT GUY FROM GREENWICH. It sold well, at first, then, as expected, died. That's not what I was after. I wanted to be, like my many ghostwriting clients, an expert in a field.
Today I came closer to that. I proofed the galleys for my straight-off-the-shoulder advice for baby boomers who want to stay employed OVER-50: HOW WE KEEP WORKING Download Over50prefaceintrotoc. Then I turned the whole thing over to the universe. In 12-step programs we call that surrender. In Buddhism detaching. In Christianity, wearing life like a loose garment.
I had to. The scary thing is that already this field of expertise is getting attention. I'm conducting a workshop for a legal organization in Manhattan on: We Are Our Stories - Small Changes, Big Impacts. I am doing blogging on it for a prestigious law school. And on my two syndicated career blogs http://over-50.typepad.com and http://careertransitions.typepad.com, traffic has been brisk.
Someone told me the ghostwriting background has nothing to do with my initial hesitation and shock at the glimmer of success. "You're damaged." That's what she said. Then she went on to explain that we - ranging from Charles Schultz to herself - wounded just have a hard time of everything. But once we get passed that and focus, we move mountains, and maybe audiences.
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