When you strike out into the unknown to discover a dream, support from those around you is very precious. Sadly, it is rare to find and can take time to develop.

Striking out on my writing career, I had from the beginning a small amount of support from my husband. He knew that I was one who pushed aside dreams to do what society deemed the right thing. In the process, he saw me becoming miserable. As my love of writing developed, he was there to suggest focusing on it. He was there to say I could quit my job. He was there telling me we would make it.

When times got tough (and they still do), he refused to hear of me going back to work full time. I did take a seasonal tax preparation job but nothing more. Yet I'll be honest in that fact the support was not exactly what I needed.

I needed my family to read my material.

You heard right. No one really read my stuff including my husband. Part of this is because he is not a big reader. In fact, I think I can count on both hands the number of books he has read in his life. He read excerpts of my pieces only.

No one beyond that read my material until I published A Gift for a Mouse. Still no support when it came to promoting my work. I rarely saw family or friends like and share my work on the social networks I used.

I have since found out that some read my work but never said anything. Though I am grateful they took the time to read it, not saying anything was not helpful. I still needed the support and encouragement to write.

Within the last few months, I've found it. My husband has read a few chapters of my latest and is willing to do anything to see it published. He said to spend whatever to get it done. He said to not get a job and focus on writing. He said I had to get it published soon. My heart sang with those words.

From there I began to think a deep freeze had occurred in a remote region below the earth's surface as I began to hear similar sentiments from a few other family and friends. To hear the words of support from my mother-in-law's lips was like sweet nectar to me. Why? Because I felt like she was accepting me as a writer. By doing that she was accepting more of me. If only the rest of my family would feel the same....

The only other family member I know of that has read any of my current material is my cousin who is creating the cover of Deep Connections. Sadly, no one else has read it.

Of my friends, I have my muses that give me the most support. I wouldn't be writing the books I am without Lisa, Sara, and Courtney. But I had to do a happy dance when another old friend read the first seven chapters of Deep Connections and begged for more! Her words sent me into writer's heaven. A few days later another friend on facebook did the same thing. That was what I needed.

Support for those around you is precious because it is not always easy to obtain and can take time. But when you get it, you will appreciate it so much more. By writing this, I'm not complaining about people. I'm pointing out to you how important it is to support the writers in your family or circle of friends. It doesn't take much to like or share their material. Retweet a post. Ask them how their writing is going. Show you care and you'll see a writer soaring through the sky creating works of literary art.