AN ASPIRING AUTHOR By: Claude Bouchard

He wakes in the morning and heads directly into the computer room where he fires up the PC. The 23 inch flat-screen comes to life and he waits the moments required for the CPU to crunch through its morning ritual, its own awakening to deal with another day.

The coffee maker starts to burble and he goes down into the kitchen, feeding the cats while the caffeine brew drips into the pot. Minutes go by and he returns upstairs armed with two full cups, one he leaves on his spouse's nightstand, as she will soon rise as well.

Back at the command center, he slips back onto the web, opening tabs which will be required, as usual, for the day ahead. Followers have increased on Twitter again, he notes with satisfaction. The previous day's hits on his website demonstrate continued interest in what he has to offer the world. He sifts through new e-mails, deleting junk and reading those he deems important, though there is no earth-shattering news once again. As he verifies a few sites related to sales, he is disappointed to see that, as is often the case, few or no units were sold the previous day. Determined however, he pursues the routine as he has done for over a year, marketing himself and his products, greeting friends all over the globe, chatting and making the witty remarks for which he has become known, hoping that his efforts are not in vain.

The day goes by like all the others past, with messages sent regularly to assure his presence, all while toiling at the creation of his current work in progress. Through it all, he waits for that call, that sale, that interest that will show him that what he has done, has indeed finally been considered worthwhile.

The day ends as he closes down his command center and turns his attention to another pleasant evening with his spouse and the pursuit of other activities, of the leisure kind, aimed at taking his mind off of the dream he yearns for to become reality.

The evening draws to a close and it becomes night, a time to retire, to rest and build up the energy for a new day to come, a day which will most likely duplicate those of the past. But he remains optimistic, he remains hopeful, he remains an aspiring author.

Claude Bouchard was born in Montreal, Canada where he still resides with his spouse Joanne, as well as the rulers of the household, Krystalle and Midnight, their cats. Claude has written and self-published four novels and has recently completed work on a fifth. When Claude isn't writing or editing his work, he spends his time making noise with his guitars, painting in oil and watercolor, reading, traveling (budget permitting) and planning to work out. Claude Bouchard is represented by Tribe Literary Agency. You can learn more about this fascinating author on his website http://bigceebee.webs.com/ or on Twitter @ceebee308.