We recently connected with Loucinda McGary and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Loucinda, thanks for joining us today. Looking back, do you think you started your business at the right time? Do you wish you had started sooner or later?

I wrote my first novel when I was 27 years old, but I didn’t start to seriously pursue publication for another 24 years. I continued to write and take writing classes and writing workshops, but I did all that in and around ‘real’ jobs that provided me with a steady income and benefits.

Turning 50 was a big milestone for me. I had a successful 16+ year career in state government, and when I turned 50 I was eligible to retire and be fully vested in my benefit package. I suddenly realized that I didn’t need to continue working at a ‘real’ job. I could finally spend my time writing. So on Sept. 22, 2003 I took an early retirement from my state career and devoted myself to fiction writing.

On Sept. 15, 2007 (almost four years to the day after I retired), I got ‘the Call’ from an editor offering to publish my novel. Basically, it took me 28 years to start my author business.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I always loved to read from the time I was a young child, and it didn’t take me long to discover if I didn’t like the way a story ended, I could make up my own ending. That’s how I became a writer, but I didn’t seriously pursue publication until I was 52 years old.

I always loved the Happily-Ever-After ending of romance novels and I grew up reading the classic Gothic/suspense romances of Victoria Holt, Phyllis A. Whitney, and Mary Stewart, so that is the genre I chose to write.

After a very brief stint with a traditional publisher, I joined the ebook self-publishing revolution in 2011, and since then I’ve published ten contemporary and two historical romance novels and novellas.

Since retiring, I’ve traveled to 47 states, 38 foreign countries, and taken 42 cruises, and I often set my stories in some of the different settings I have visited.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

After my first three novels were released, my publisher told me they were not interested in seeing any more of my work. After struggling for seven years I felt like I was back to square one, but I soon found out I was less than square one. No agents were interested in representing me, and no other publishers wanted to touch me or my work after I’d been ‘let go’.” Fortunately,, I wasn’t the only one.. A good friend who had been ‘let go’ by the same publisher, and (unlike me) she had a collection of unsold manuscripts that she decided to self-publish.

This was 2011 when ‘self-publishing’ ebooks were just catching fire, and my friend decided she had nothing to lose. In less than a year, she sold 10,000 copies of her self-published ebooks, and I decided to give self-publishing a try. I haven’t yet achieved the monetary success of my friend, but I have self-;published/Indie published twelve books and have won several awards and feel a lot of pride and sense of accomplishment in my work. I love the control I have as an Indie author, and at this point in my career, I can’t see myself ever signing a traditional publishing contract again.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Writing is a solitary activity, but writers are not ‘in this alone.’ I actually find the support and friendship of other writers one of the most rewarding parts of being an author. I started my writing journey in an adult education creative writing class. I found my very first critique group in that class, and experienced the joy of finding my tribe. Over the years, I’ve taken many classes, and attended dozens of workshops and conferences, and I’ve made countless friends and received tons of support from other writers.

One of the best things I did when I decided to seriously pursue publication was to join the Romance Writers of America (RWA), and through the National organization I found a local chapter. The members of my local chapter became my author life support system. The other members truly get me and we all give each other endless support and encouragement. In 2020. our group disaffiliated from RWA and formed our own non-profit organization (Northern California Romance Writers). I’m proud to be one of the founding members of this group and I can honestly say without this group of authors (both published and unpublished), I would not have written and published my last three books. Thanks to these talented, creative, supportive writers, I know I’m not alone.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.loucindamcgaryauthor.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/loucinda.mcgary
• Other: Northern California Romance Writers https://www.norcalromancewriters.com/