Inspiration on Monday (1)

I find that on Monday we are all in need of a little inspiration to make it through the week. Thus each Monday I will post things that inspire me and maybe it will help someone else along the way.

This week's inspiration is indie author Amanda Hocking. I know there is already a lot of buzz on the internet about her, but frankly I find her story to be inspiring, even though I don't write or aspire to be an author.

I started following Amanda's blog just after she released My Blood Approves. It was a recommended read on Amazon and I took a chance and bought it since it was really cheap. Amanda was my first experience reading an indie author. I started following her blog and reading the books that she published. I even had the opportunity to beta read a few things for her (You can check out some of my reviews of her work on the archived reviews tab).

The inspirational part happened for me when she decided to leave her job to pursue a career in writing. I think it takes a lot of courage to make that transition. Through reading her blogs during her transition time (I think I started about three weeks before she blogged about quitting), I was able to feel the same nervousness for her as she decided to take the leap. Now she is supporting herself pretty successfully with her writing and getting to do what she loves and that is pretty inspirational. Check out her page here.