Ann Chase

Ann Chase is the pseudonym for author Cheryl Chascin. Born and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, Cheryl earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from the University of Lowell (now UMass Lowell). She has lived in upstate New York, western Massachusetts, Maine, and currently resides in Jacksonville, Florida. She is married, has two children, and five grandchildren. She is a National Board Certified teacher and has been teaching elementary reading, writing, and language arts since 2001.

I dreamed of becoming a writer from a very young age. I identified with the character John Boy on the Waltons, and kept a secret journal of poetry from the time I was in the third grade. I didn't know if my writing was any good, I just knew that I had to write. It was like breathing to me.

In the seventh grade, I had the first of many classes in writing. When my teacher praised my work, I thought, this is it, this is what I was meant to do.

In college, I wanted to major in journalism or English, but both of those degrees required two years of a foreign language. It was a hopeless disaster.

Then, life got in the way. I got married, had children, and the dream of being a writer had to be shuffled down the list. But it was always there, tickling the back of my neck until I did something about it.

I took a few correspondence courses in writing for children, and sold two short stories to magazines. One of them was Highlights. The magazine I had enjoyed as a child. I remember getting that first acceptance letter. I stood by the mailbox, ripped open the envelope, braced for yet another rejection, and reread it twice before the words sunk in. I'm surprised my neighbors didn't call 911 when they heard my screams.

I earned $75.00 for that first short story. It had taken me 3 months to write, submit, and get it accepted. And my children needed shoes. So, once again the dream had to be set aside. I told myself I'd write in my spare time, but we know how that works.

I didn't seriously consider writing again until my 50th birthday. I took a look at my life, at the things I had hoped to accomplish, and there was that dream again, tickling the back of my neck. With my biological clock ticking, so to speak, I knew that I needed to either do something about it or let it go for good.

So, I enrolled in a seminar on writing for children. The instructor told me that I was a sensual writer and should consider another genre. Now I had thought of writing romance before, I'd even written one during my first Maine winter when I was trapped in a tiny apartment with a two year old. It was awful, and I never had the nerve to submit it.

Romance is my go to genre, and I have been reading it since I was nine. But still I resisted. I carefully plotted a children's novel and pinned the plot line complete with pictures of the characters to the side of my refrigerator. But no matter how much I tried, I couldn't write it. And I had two other characters in my head. Two characters that wanted their story, their romance, told.

The writing flowed, but more importantly I felt such joy. It was a great outlet. I taught school and wrote during breaks and over the summer. The first book, which took me a year to write, was rejected 3 times before I stopped submitting it. I started a second book and asked myself why any sane person would set themselves up for rejection. Yet, as soon as the second book was finished, I submitted it. And was rejected again.

I have to say I learned a lot from the experience. I learned that I'm terrible at writing a query letter and a synopsis. That's another hurdle I'm determined to overcome. I learned that when you write for a specific genre, you limit the number of publishers you can submit to. This means that before you submit to another line, you have to do a major revision.

I received some great advice and feedback in the rejection letters I received. I revised and revised and revised. Repeatedly receiving rejections is tough on the ego, but I put on my big girl panties and forged on.

In my mind being a writer meant finding an editor or publisher who thought my work was worth taking a risk on. In my mind, self-publishing was a cop out. I thought it would be giving up on the dream.

Then it hit me. I was a writer. I had been a writer my whole life. And I had given someone else the power to get in the way of my dream. So, I took back that power and self-published. And with my heart in my throat, I shared the link to my book on my Facebook page.

The experience so far has been incredible. The response from my friends, family, and co-workers was amazing. It brought me to tears. They were cheering without having read a word I wrote.

I don't know where this journey will take me but one thing's for certain--dream fulfilled.