Author: If at first you don't succeed, write, write again

Christie Craig has not taken a traditional path to writing success, but at this point, it is impossible to argue with the results.

Craig, an Alabama native, has dyslexia, which led to her dropping out of high school as a teen. Still, she had a dream, and she was determined to see it through. Shortly after getting married, her husband asked what she wanted to do with her life.

“I admitted to him then something that I hadn’t really admitted to myself, that what I really wanted to do was tell stories and to write, and he told me to do it,” Craig said.

She soon started taking steps toward achieving her goal, and while there were some growing pains on her way to publication, Craig was not the type to give up.

“It was a challenge, and I love a good challenge,” Craig said. “So I started writing. I wrote my first book in longhand, and it was not good enough to line a birdcage. But a short 10 years later, I sold my first book.”

In 1994, Craig’s first book, “Two Hearts Too Late,” was published, a major step on her road to success. However, it would be 13 years until she was able to sell the second book. In the meantime, she began working as a freelance writer and photojournalist.

“I worked very hard and made what I call a beginning schoolteacher’s income at it,” Craig said.

Although she was finding success at her new job, Craig still had an insatiable urge to keep publishing her fiction, and through sheer doggedness, she was able to break through again.

“It was the year 2000, and I thought, you know, I don’t want to be a one-book wonder,” Craig said. “I want to sell another book.”

In 2006, she entered four of her books into a romance novel competition, where she took home the top four prizes.

This was truly the springboard for Craig, who has now made a name for herself not only in the romance world, but also in young adult literature, where she is in the midst of her “Shadow Falls” series, about a young girl who discovers she has a paranormal heritage.

No longer a one-book wonder, Craig has truly made it, a fact that she remains thankful for.

“I just count my lucky blessings every day that I’m doing well,” Craig said.

About Christie Craig
Age: 52
Occupation: Author
Community Connection: Lives in Spring
Fast Fact: Craig’s book “Born at Midnight” won a 2013 Spirit of Texas award

Chris Marshall is a freelance writer. He can be reached at neighborhoods@chron.com.