Mildred Riley - An Inspiration

Thanks to my wonderful sister I just read an article about romance author Mildred Riley.  She’s a 91 years young retired psychiatric nurse that enjoys writing romances featuring African-American characters.  The article was written by Judy Feinberg and can be seen at http://tinyurl.com/ml6nqq.

Mrs. Riley reminds me that it’s never too late to achieve your dreams.  Writing usually starts as a wonderful passion that has to be expressed.  It doesn’t matter if you have a full time job, a family to raise or have a host of other possibilities to tend to because the need to write is always there like a undercurrent of an already established stream. 

The wonderful thing about the Riley article is that her passion for writing is strongly influenced be historic and contemporary issues.  And she isn’t afraid to use the wisdom she’s gained over the years to add depth and layers to her works.

I know all romance authors work hard to mold authentic characters and convincing stories but let’s take a page from Mrs. Riley and draw on our life experiences.  There are wonderful love stories all around us and every day we’ll meet people that can translate into wonderful characters.  Acknowledge that fact!  Embrace it!  And I promise wonderful writing will follow.

Mildred Riley’s latest novel ‘All I’ll Ever Need’, published in May 2009, is in bookstores now.