Pat Davids here wishing all of you a Happy New Year.

This month we WARA writers will be blogging about why we became writers.

I hesitate to share my reasons here because it will make me look foolish and greedy, but I guess I will anyway. After all, we all had to start somewhere.

In 1996 my husband and I were having a serious money crunch. I have always wanted to write a book and it seemed like a good time to start. I became a writer because I wanted to make money fast.

Okay, everyone is laughing. I knew you would. Most of you know that writing may seldom, if ever, pay the bills. I was so green when I started that I thought this is how my writing career would go.

I’d take six weeks and write one of those short Harlequin books, send it to the publisher and then six weeks later I would have a nice fat check.

Stop laughing right now. Those of you, who have fallen off your chairs in mirth, take a moment to compose yourselves.

As you see, I wasn’t just green; I was blinking NEON green when it came to knowing anything about publishing. I didn't know about query letters, or how to write a synopsis. I didn't know how to format a manuscript or that writers needed an agent or that different romance lines had different reqirments as to word count or content. Needless to say, I do now. Thanks in large part to WARA. I also realize that many new writers secretly subscribe to the same myth I bought into. That writers make lots of money…easily.

So why didn’t I quit writing when it became clear there wasn't a fast path to publication or that the money wasn't as good as getting a second part-time job? Why? Because I was hooked on the love of creating my own stories, because I found out I had some talent, and because I am as stubborn as the day is long. For every rejection letter that came my way my determination to succeed grew that much more.

Writing is paying some of the bills for me now, but a writing career doesn’t come with a retirement account or benefits like health or dental insurance. For the most part it's a nice part-time job.

Still, it’s just about the most wonderful career in the world because I know that every time I start a story, it’s gonna have the one thing I love best in any story. A happy ending.

Here's to all the happily ever after writers in the world. Keep those stories coming.

Now, I've got a question for you. What's the best HEA line or the best "Ah" line you've ever written or read?

For me, it was one I wrote in an Amish on-line story called The Inn at Hope Springs. After the heroine saved the hero from a nasty fall she told him he needed someone to look after him. He gazed into her eyes and asked, "What are you doing for the next fifty or sixty years?"

Ah!