MY PATH TO PUBLICATION
JASMINE ELMER
The classicist and TV personality describes finding her message and following her flow to write her debut work of non-fiction
I was 40 when I decided that there was even a small possibility that I could be a writer. Unlike many of my contemporaries, I didn’t guard hidden dreams of becoming an author, or covet a beloved novel that I was writing ‘on the side’. I didn’t spend days dreaming out of the window of what could have been if I was just brave enough to take the leap. Writing kind of crept up on me. It felt like an inner voice getting louder and louder, until the stories started spilling out of me. At first, I was very unsure. I didn’t understand the publishing world, and whether someone like me could just ‘rock up’ and get a book deal. I didn’t know if I had the necessary skills, experience, or platform to become an author. But I am one for following my gut, so I decided I should take the leap and see what caught me.