Submitted by MaryFahey

I joined Wattpad in February 2014 as a reader and enjoyed many fantastic, free books. With tax here, books are expensive and government cutbacks mean libraries only carry a small selection. Ereaders and me tend to come to a sorry end after a few months so I avoid purchasing expensive books for them.

My writing journey began later in 2014 to make sense of a series of unpleasant events. I intended to write an autobiography and completed a draft. One day I might return to it with a more distant perspective. The harrowing personal account drained me so for relief, I changed to writing light hearted fiction. Initially I tried children's books and then thrillers. They turned out dreadful. Romance is mainly what I read. I concentrated on putting, what I hope, is my unique spin on that. My dreadful initial efforts ended up in virtual bins. Often the story ran out of steam after a chapter or two. Nevertheless, I persevered in bursts and starts.

During the Summer/ Autumn of 2015, Harlequin ran a competition called SYTYCW15 on Wattpad. I people entering this contest through various forums and social media. Many were also new writers to Wattpad. The group support of the contest encouraged me to write and post my first completed novel here in August 2015. I was terrified though.

For the first few weeks, I checked it about 50 times every day. Is it still there? Are Silas and Chloe (my characters) okay? Is anyone complaining about them? It took me a while and some errors to figure out how Wattpad works. My novel got a few readers and I checked where they came from. Some Wattpad authors came over and advised or commented. The forums were friendly, full of helpful support and great fun.

As expected I flunked out in the first round of the competition. Yet, I won as well. Since then I completed a second novel and a fanfic. I also made friends and joined the ambassador programme. Every day I find new authors and books to read (for free) and get feedback on my writing. I comment on other writers but probably not as often as I should.

As I write this in February 2016, I entered another Harlequin contest. I got feedback that told me my characters were unlikeable and to start something new. As I had a full manuscript prepared, I posted a chapter on Wattpad and went to chat to a politician canvassing on my doorstep. When I returned the novel, (I was told to abandon) already had 20 reads and 2 votes. That perked me up so much. I'll edit and post the remainder of the book over the next few weeks.