Nineteen years is a long time to hold onto a story. Some might call it procrastination. Others might call it life. For me, it was both. The truth is, I actually finished writing my novel, “For Sale,” all those years ago. It sat completed in a spiral notebook, on a floppy disc, a CD, and eventually a flash drive. But I never took that next step—I never found an editor, a publisher, or believed it was “ready.”

Then, somehow, I came across The Mystic Ghost Writers. They guided me through the entire process: editing, refining, and ultimately publishing the story that had been waiting in the wings for nearly two decades.

Looking back, those years of starts and stops taught me more than any writing class ever could.

Here are a few things I learned from taking 19 years to publish my book:

1. Stories Grow with You When I first finished writing, I had a basic idea—a family cottage, a lake, and a mystery. But as I grew older, experienced loss, and gained perspective, the story deepened in meaning. Even though the words were written, my understanding of them kept evolving.
2. There’s No “Perfect” Time to Publish I kept waiting for the “right time” to do something with my manuscript—when life calmed down, when I had more free time, when I felt brave enough. The truth is, that time never magically appeared. It wasn’t until I found The Mystic Ghost Writers that I realized you don’t need to wait for permission. You just need to take the first step.
3. Technology Changes, But Stories Don’t It’s funny to think my book has lived on every kind of storage device imaginable. Technology kept evolving, but the core of my story—the emotional truth of it—never changed. Good stories are timeless.
4. Editing is Where the Magic Happens Even though my manuscript was “finished,” it wasn’t polished. Working with The Mystic Ghost Writers showed me how vital professional editing is. They helped me refine, cut, expand, and polish my manuscript into the story it was always meant to be.
5. Patience is Part of the Process For a long time; I felt embarrassed telling people how long I’d been sitting on this book. Now, I see those years as part of its journey. It took 19 years—not to write it—but to find the right team and the courage to share it with the world.

If you’re holding onto a story, wondering if it’s too late, I’m here to tell you—it’s not. Stories wait for us. Sometimes they need to simmer, sometimes we need to grow into them. And when the time is right, you’ll know.

I did.