I’ll also be looking for guest blogs and new ideas on how to provide help to beginner and advanced writers. Hope to see you here!!

One entire chapter titled “Wives and Widows” captures the sometimes lonely, often scary experience of the spouse left behind when the other is gone at all hours. In 1985, three North Carolina troopers were killed within that one year and each of their stories are told. It’s a more dangerous job than many people assume.

While there are still fewer than five percent of NC troopers who are women, those numbers are growing. The book describes the job from the female perspective and ends with an updated Epilogue that brings the reader to 2012.

This book has been used as required reading in criminal justice classes and remains today, one of the few realistic accounts of a day-in-the-life-of a state trooper. Though the North Carolina Highway Patrol is its primary focus, the stories and experiences are the same for most any trooper in any state.

If you have a NOOK reader, go online and find Trooper Down! Life and Death on the Highway Patrol through Barnes & Noble and other e-book sites.

While social bonding can be a good thing in whatever form it takes, there’s something to be said for simple silence too. In fact, I’ve grown to appreciate the quiet so much that when I’m home alone I seldom even turn on the radio, especially during the day. Instead, I like to stand at a window, look out at a budding tree about to burst into bloom, listen to the tat-tat-tat of a woodpecker, hear a wild turkey call to its mate, or watch a squirrel scamper up a tree in silence.

I don’t advocate we get rid of anything that brings us noise and connection.  I can blog, tweet, tap a key and click a dial with the best of them. I’m just saying let’s not forget the soothing sounds of a womb-like quiet.  Silence may no longer be golden in today’s  cacophonous world  of never-ending noise, but it does bring its own special comfort.

Try it. But be quiet.

Crossing over from one genre to another is not as easy as it might first appear. It’s not too different from a country western singer attempting rock or jazz. It can be done, of course, but it doesn’t work for everyone. I now have a new respect for fiction writers, not only because writing in general is hard work but because writing fiction — gripping, well-paced, well-plotted fiction that grabs a reader’s attention up front — is really hard.

Five important things I learned:

• Don’t count on your past experience to predict your future success. Just because I published nonfiction books doesn’t mean I can crack the fiction market easier and quicker than other writers. Each work must stand on its own.
• Immerse yourself with other fiction writers, preferably those who are advanced so you can learn the beginner tricks and tips of the trade right away. I took a fiction writing workshop with writers who had undergone numerous revisions. Some had been working on their novels for years, literally. While I don’t recommend spending a decade or more on the same book, I do think you are better off learning the ropes from those who have already left the gate.
• Sit down and shut up. That means no matter how much experience you have as a nonfiction writer, be willing to listen and learn. I’m a seasoned professional as a nonfiction writer. But I’m a novice at fiction, a first-grader just starting school. I had much to learn and accepted that going in.
• Invest in a professional editorial service. Once your manuscript is done, let it stew a while. You’ll have NO objectivity. Then turn it over to a professional editor who will go through it page-by-page. Agents and publishers expect a smooth, finished product today. Don’t sabotage your chances by turning in a less-than-stellar submission.
• Select five or six critical readers who can go through the manuscript for entertainment value alone. I’m not talking about relatives or close friends who will sugar-coat their honest opinions. Find people who are representative of your audience (book club members, retired teachers, librarians come to mind) and ask them to read it  and tell you whether or not it kept their attention. Have them flag those sections that don’t work. If more than one person makes the same criticism, zero in on that section and fix it before you send the story out.

Like all writing endeavors, you have to stay at it to be successful. Use every rejection as a learning tool and keep on keeping on. In this race, it’s not the hare but the tortoise that usually wins.

If you live to be as old as I am, or even half that age, you begin to realize that there’s no need to construct a crisis. If you wait long enough, life will bring you all the drama you can handle and more. Inevitable losses, sadness, disappointments, fears, anxieties and plenty of self-doubt will come looking for you and pounce, bringing you to your knees.  It’s part of the human condition that we go along with things running smooth one day, only to be derailed and deconstructed the next.

So my advice to this young girl, had I been able to interrupt and actually get her to listen (not likely) would be this: Calm down. Sit back. Wait for it. Enjoy the quiet while you can. Drama is headed your way, my dear, and will tear through the door when you least expect it.  Don’t invite it in.

Sure, it helps to have some talent and some say it’s absolutely necessary in order to make writing a paying profession.  But like any craft, writing can be learned and improved upon with enough guidance, practice and dedication to the form.

So, besides a pinch of talent, what else do good writers need?

• Reliability: meeting deadlines, returning phone calls or e-mails, following through, and basically delivering what you promise. I’ve known many editors and publishers who said they’d rather work with a somewhat talented writer they could count on, rather than a super-talented writer they couldn’t.
• Limited drama: extremely talented people can be extremely…everything. There’s a reason Ernest Hemingway drank too much, a reason a certain female poet committed suicide, a reason high drama gets lots of attention. But there’s also a reason good writers should avoid it like the plague. If you’re simply a working writer like me, forget the high drama and just do your job. Long-term writing as a career requires dedication, commitment and perseverance, like any other career, which means if you do it right you’ll have little time for high drama.
• A sense of who you are  and what you want to achieve: understanding, identifying and following through on your long-term goals will bring a lot more satisfaction than trying to emulate someone else or constantly scrambling to reach the top, whatever the top represents to you. Steady wins the race for working writers.
• Just enough ego: which means having enough self-confidence to take a risk, overcome rejection and believe in yourself to keep working. But not let ego-mania get in the way of your progress. See yourself as a lifelong student of the writing craft, not its creator.
• A willingness to share: don’t be so threatened by other writers and their success that you fail to sincerely praise work well done on the part of another writer or extend a helping hand when someone reaches out to you for advice. There’s plenty of work for everyone. We don’t have to hoard it. And those of us who have been in the business for the past century know, that at times, it can be brutal.  Don’t make it even tougher for other writers and hopefully, they’ll do the same for you.

* Press tours, by definition, are trips paid for by the sponsor with all expenses covered including air transportation, lodging and meals. In exchange, the writer agrees to become part of the press tour group, stay on schedule with the group, either have an assignment in advance or work toward getting a published story about the destination. Any published works that are the result of the press tour should then be reported back to the sponsor.

* Like writers, some press tour operators are better than others. I’ve been fortunate to work with well-organized, professional tour operators that treat writers well. Google “press tours” and “public relations firms” to find a current list. Most will require that you have a history of some published work, even if it isn’t travel writing. Best way to break in is through referral by another writer who has been on a press tour.

* If you’re invited to attend a press tour, know the “Golden Rules” and stick to them: Be willing to follow the tour operator’s instructions. That means showing up on time, being courteous to others in the group, adhering to what can be a tight, exhausting schedule without complaint or whining. At the end, extend a little gratitude to your host. While this is NOT a free vacation, it is a working gig that allows you to travel at someone else’s expense. I’ve been places and engaged in activities that I could never have afforded on my own. One of the best returns was the networking I was able to do with other writers I met on the trip.

* It’s important to note that some markets in which you attempt to sell the travel piece will NOT accept articles based upon a press tour, also referred to as a junket. The NY Times is one example. Check with an editor or the publication in advance before you assume you can sell an article from a press tour. There are publications that contend you cannot write a subjective article as a press tour recipient. As with all article writing, you’ll need to study your market and find a topic and a slant that fits the publication.

* Generally, press tour operators will provide writers with all contact information and digital images for publication, along with brochures, maps, press releases and other background information. Take notes during the trip for follow-up interviews and check for credit lines required before you submit images to a publication. Another tip: Know in advance what story lines you want to follow and any possible markets for the piece. For example, if food writing is your specialty, look for those angles on the trip and ask your tour operator to steer you in that direction. Most tours provide a list of optional activities and you can pick and choose what works best for your potential market or markets.

* At tour’s end, follow up with a thank you to the press tour operator and let them know when the article is scheduled to appear. That’s common courtesy and only fair. I also collect business cards from other writers and stay in touch to compare notes.

* Finally, press tours are not for everyone. It’s group travel on a strict schedule with high expectations. But if you are fair, honest, upfront, courteous and professional as a writer and a recipient, the rewards can be great.

FOUR THINGS I WISH I’D KNOWN YEARS AGO:

1) Lock onto your passion. Find a subject, a topic, a genre that lights you up and begin there. At this stage in my career, I love historical fiction. Whether I ever publish anything I’ve written on a segment of history that gets me excited is not as important as delving into something I truly love to do. Follow the passion and good things will happen. The result could be as simple as getting a blog site established, as complex as a book, or even a job opportunity you might just stumble upon.

2) Network, network, network. Let everyone you know that you intend to become a published writer. Should you write for free starting out? Maybe. Decide if the time you invest gives you something in return. It may be nothing more than a chance to show that you’re serious about “interning” for your profession. It may be that you just feel good about your contribution. All fine things. Regardless, the experience of writing, even for free, will serve you well. (Just don’t make a long-term habit of giving away your talent).

3) Get to know other writers. Short of stalking, find people who write for a living and make contact. Tell them what you hope to do, ask if you can hear the stories of how they started out, what they learned, mistakes they made, and their best piece of advice for a newcomer. Who knows? You might even get an interview that you can pitch as a story idea to local, regional or national writer publications. It’s a win-win for both you and the writer involved.

4) Keep a journal. This was one of the best pieces of advice I ever received, and then ignored. Of all the places I’ve been, people I’ve met, jobs I’ve held through the years, I wish now I had kept a journal of daily notes that connected me to the moment. I could use it today for sensory details, flavor, quotes, historical context and the thousands of details that make up each of our lives past and present.

To learn more, check out the eight writer courses at www.onceawriter.com

It’s hard to know what writers need most these days. It’s really hard to teach someone how to write. My belief is that you learn best by just doing it, writing and then rewriting. But then what? I’ve found that the majority of writers I’ve met, regardless of their level of experience, don’t know how to take the next step in getting their work from printed word to a published piece. That’s what I hope all writers who come to onceawriter.com and take the courses will learn. No, there’s not a lot of complexity here but the goal is to see what writers need most and over time, give it to them.

So come visit www.onceawriter.com, check out the courses and see what you think. At this point, I’m open to all kinds of new ideas. Most important, my fellow writers, just keeping writing. In the crazy world of freelance scribes, it’s the tortoise, not the hare that wins the race.

Hope to see you.