• Have you ever had the feeling that there is a book somewhere inside you just aching to see the light of day?
• Are you afraid to allow this book to get out of you and onto paper?
• Are you unsure about how to realize this dream, even if you do want to put your story on paper?
• Are you leery about getting started?
• Have you ever said, "Oh, I'll get started when I have the time?"
• Do you have trouble finding this time to begin listening to your heart and just getting started?

I reflected on these very same questions for several years before writing my first book. During my entire adult life, until twelve years ago, I never saw myself as a writer and author. If someone said to me, "Ed, why don't you write about what we're talking about?" I would quickly brush off his or her comment with, "I am not a writer, and no one would want to read it anyway."

I have always loved to read but never saw myself as being an author. When people talked with me about my first book, Lessons from the Porch: A Gathering Place for Telling Our Stories, I would almost always deflect any complimentary comments with something like, "Hey, if I can write a book, anyone can write a book." Today I am a successful writer.

The purposes of this workshop are to:

• Share with you my experiences as an author, those times when the process went well and also those times I made some huge mistakes and what I learned from them;
• Share with you how to contact literary agents and publishing houses, and what they expect from you before they will consider your book;
• Assist you in answering the questions you just read;
• Guide you in bringing forth other questions you may not even be aware of;
• Allow you to realize there is no "magical secret" to writing - the process differs for each individual;
• Focus on your particular style of writing, and why this style fits your purpose for writing and the personality you bring to the writing process;
• Give you insights about why my first publisher said something to me that I just could not accept: "Ed, now that you've finished your book, only 5% of the work has been done." He was right. What is that other 95% of the work?
• Critique samples of your writing. Receive feedback from other participants in the workshop - if you are willing to submit your writing for feedback purposes;
• Understand how the writing process differs depending on whether your story is fiction or non-fiction;