My relationship with publishing started when I was five years old. My father had found a stack of poems written in red ink on a yellow legal pad in my mother’s desk drawer. He wanted to publish them, but none of the eleven major publishing houses in the United States would do it. All eleven rejection letters said the same thing: “We don’t publish poetry, and poetry doesn’t sell.”

Instead of stuffing the poems back in the desk, he published the book in our basement, before the internet or even the personal computer. As our friends packed the books into boxes, I sat on our green pool table, playing with my Raggedy Ann doll.

My parents drove to bookstores, offering the books for free. The poems struck a chord, and “The Roses Have Never Wilted,” written by Paula Morgan, sold 75,000 copies in a year—a best-seller for poetry. The first book led to a hardback book of poetry, Say Yes!, published by the New York Times Book Company.

I was working as a political consultant in Washington, DC, when I got the call that would change my life. It was my mom, and she needed me, so I made the difficult decision to return to Los Angeles and become her live-in caretaker. Often, I’d end the day feeling emotionally black and blue. After being a caregiver, other jobs feel like a Hawaiian vacation.

I still needed an income, so I started Maverick Consulting to do customized writing projects (in between my caretaking tasks). Was it even possible for me to do that? At the time, I didn’t know.

I’ve always known how powerful art can be, but watching my mom write and produce a mini-series for HBO in her eighties made me fall in love with words all over again.

I know how valuable your story is, and I can’t wait to take this magical journey with you!