by Peter Leavell, @PeterLeavell

You might know his name if you study combat and military maneuvers. He’s my friend, and he’s also a tower of folksy wisdom. 

The other day, he pulled off his glasses and pointed them at me. “It’s how you get good at anything. Joy of drill. Doesn’t matter age. Gender. None of that matters. You just gotta have joy of drill.”

He’s right. If you want to do this, if you want to write and make a name for yourself, like a soldier, you must learn to march. Hold a weapon. Follow orders. And then, as you’re promoted, learn how to fight. Lead others into combat. Take initiative. And finally, give orders to others in an effort to successfully control the outcome of the war.

Writing is the same. Learn to create lovely sentences and choose the right word, then paragraphs, followed by short stories and articles, and finally into a novel and series. 

Start at the beginning. Learn to handle writing rules until they’re second nature, and then, as you’re promoted and recognized by fans, you are able to change the rules to fit the needs of the moment. Continual promotion and understanding of craft lead to helping others with their work. And finally, you find yourself working with or for a publisher for mutual success.

In all this endeavor, you never stop drilling. Putting words on paper. Manipulating sentences. Seeing what works and what doesn’t. Perfecting your craft. 

The key to sustaining this lifestyle is not the drill, however. It’s fining joy in drilling—passion for getting up, day after day at 4:30 before work and putting words on paper, for sending out your work to get feedback, blogging not just to gain followers, but to keep your skills up. You never stop drilling. 

Passion isn’t love. Love comes and goes. Instead, passion drives you through everyone saying you’re insane for taking a few moments of your busy life to see what word rhymes with fuchsia. Passion is writer’s block and writing even if it’s terrible work. Passion is a need to put words down, somewhere, anywhere. 

Find the joy in drill, and you will discover a new sense of purpose, skill level, and opportunity you never thought possible. Keep up the good work. Write on, my friends!

West for the Black Hills

Philip Anderson keeps his past close to the vest. Haunted by the murder of his parents as they traveled West in their covered wagon, his many unanswered questions about that night still torment him.

His only desire is to live quietly on his homestead and raise horses. He meets Anna, a beautiful young woman with secrets of her own. Falling in love was not part of his plan. Can Philip tell her how he feels before it’s too late?

With Anna a pawn in the corrupt schemes brewing in the nearby Dakota town, Philip is forced to become a reluctant gunslinger. Will Philip’s uncannily trained horses and unsurpassed sharpshooting skills help him free Anna and find out what really happened to his family in the wilderness?