Hey Gang,

It’s getting chilly willy here in Nashville, so I guess fall is upon us.  But I always welcome the change of seasons, don’t you?  I mean it’s been consistently hot here for quite a while so the change will be nice.  I can’t imagine what so many are going through who’ve been so devastated by the tornadoes and hurricanes.  Let’s keep these special people in our prayers.  Oh my.  And I hope you’re all safe and healthy and happy.

Well, thank you for the questions.  It’s much more interesting to talk to you about what you’re interested in.  Several of you have asked questions about writing, so I chose the following one to try to answer (and the name wasn’t on it because the sheets got separated, so I’m not sure who asked it.)

Question:  Which is more important to you – writing to please others or yourself?  Well, no matter what kind of writing it is, I think I would have to please myself before I would even want it to be read or heard by someone else.  I mean we never know what will please others, but I think we all have at least similar interests, and I love to write about what we go through in life – like something happy or something sad and maybe about some of the reasons why.  I think I just write from the heart mostly.  I try to vary the types of songs I compose.  I love variety.

With greeting cards, I try to meet certain needs – like I think about the different occasions that people would want to buy cards for –  birthdays, anniversaries, sympathy, friendship, family, love, etc.  With the novel, I just wanted to write it, so I did.  The greatest thrill is someone singing a song you wrote.  It’s just so cool.  With songs, the dream of course is to write something that will be loved enough that it makes people feel good when they hear it and they want to sing along with it.  I love to hear which songs people like and why.  And of course I want to please them.  I can’t help it.  I’m a people pleaser.  Music is so important.  I’ve said before that I became a writer to become a singer, and they both worked together to make my dream come true.  I’m gonna’ get very serious about my autobiography next.

Stay your sweet selves and know that I love you.

Love, love, love,

Donna