Guest Post: Bill Holland

I just love guest posts. In fact, I’m so grateful to have met so many wonderful blog friends over the past two (almost three if you count HubPages!) years.

I love finding inspiring friends. I know many writers, bloggers, photographers, and more who make me smile. They have a story, and their backgrounds inspire the rest of us with their power to persuade others with their words, and instill in others a sense of passion.

I asked Bill to do a guest post because from the moment I met him online, he’s been like a mentor to me, a shining example of persistence, and a great friend across all the miles that separate us.

Since I consider myself to be a writer, I look for people who are like-minded and can help in the collective writing journey.

And now, let me introduce Bill, who writes over at William Holland, an author with an incredible story.

My Passion for Writing

 First let me thank Cyndi for allowing me to post today.  She and I have known each other now for about two years.  We met on HubPages and formed an instant bond.  We have similar beliefs, likes, and dislikes, and I call her Lil Sis, and she calls me Big Bro, and I just enjoy the heck out of her.

I’ve been freelancing for three years now.  One day I got fed up with some verbal abuse from my principal, and I quit my teaching job and decided I was going to be a writer. 

I laugh when I think back now, but I wasn’t laughing at the time. I had no financial backup plan, no safety net, no nothing…just a desire to write.

Three years later I pay my bills, I’ve written two novels, and I absolutely love writing….and that’s the topic today…my love of and passion for writing.

I have been lucky over the years.

I taught school for eighteen of those years and I loved it.  I enjoyed getting up every day, and the kids were wonderful, and I honestly would have taught for no pay if that was the only option. 

And now I write, and I enjoy getting up every day, and my job is wonderful, and there have been many days when I wrote for no pay.  What has carried me through the tough times in both of those jobs is passion.

Teaching is something I believe I was born to do. 

It came so easily for me, and the challenges were never-ending, and man oh man I loved it. 

The same is true of writing. 

I love knowing that my words will be read 100 years from now. 

Writing is my legacy. 

It is my contribution to society and culture, and I just think that is so cool. 

I have things in common with Hemingway, Steinbeck, Angelou, and Blake.  I rub shoulders daily with Shakespeare, King, Lee, and Thoreau.  I understand what they went through, the voice they heard that drove them forward, and the endless desire they had to write something meaningful that will stand the test of time.

Teaching is what I did.  Writing is what I do. 

But neither of them define me as a human being. 

That story is still being written.

Thank you for reading, and thanks, Lil Sis, for the opportunity.

How’s that for a guest post? Put your hands together for someone who’s mentored me, and shown such persistence in writing, that we all can learn powerful lessons from this novelist.

Big Bro, you’re an inspiration to many. I have so much gratitude in knowing you and seeing you when you started this journey and you’ve been going strong ever since!