Author Mary Gauden Hughes

Welcome to my author page! I am an author who writes inspirational stories to give my readers hope to take back not only to their lives but the romance in their lives. Twenty years ago I was struggling to please all the people in my life. I was a stay-at-home mother by choice but I found that everyone felt I had nothing to do all day so they would volunteer me for things I could do for them. I became so busy and so anxious that I decided to drop out of life and just stay to myself. I remember sitting in my room crying about that decision. I said out loud, “But there are so many things I want to say!” I heard, “Go to the computer and write.”

I didn’t even know how to turn the computer on. I followed an instruction sheet left by one of my daughters and finally figured it out. My first book, The Gift of the Music Maker, just transferred itself from my mind to the computer and it was completely out of order but when I put it all together it had the perfect lesson for me! We are not supposed to be everything to everyone but we do have a perfect gift to offer. I found my gift in the writing of my book. Not only didn’t I drop out of life, but in joining writers groups I was able to meet Nicholas Sparks who had just published The Notebook. I met him in a writer’s chatroom and found out he lived only 30 miles from me.

He was coming to a book signing at Barnes and Noble. Everyone said there was no way I met the real Nicholas Sparks. I stood in line to get my book autographed and when it was my turn I said very nervously, “What’s your screen name?” He said, “Tell me yours first.” I told him and he jumped up and shook my hand and said, “I just sent you an email the other day!” He started discussing his writing with me as if I were a real writer!

I also had a major star look at my book for a film project! It was going to be too expensive to film so I wrote my novella, The Last Slow Dance which was shorter and easier to film. This book sold 4 print runs in pre-sales before I even had a copy in my hands. Nothing happened movie-wise for my books but I got divorced and went back to school to get my Masters’s degree in Counseling and now have a thriving practice as a relationship counselor and addictions counselor. I’ve also been a reporter for The Spartanburg Business Report and wrote a cover story for Woman’s World magazine.

I want all of my readers to know that each of us is so important in the eyes of our maker that people will be brought from all sorts of places to keep us from giving up. Never give up!