How We Got Here

by

Andy & Shawn Catsimanes

Shawn

Most journeys take circuitous routes and ours is no different. Though from my earliest days, I knew I wanted to write, my dream has always been to be a self-supporting novelist.

So in 1996, I quit my beloved job at Olive Glenn Golf and Country Club in Cody, WY to pursue my delusion.  Heck, I’d published one fictional story – not much of a track record – but I had oodles of passion (it’s like love, you can live on it ... right?)

My zeal fizzled after eight months. Forced back into the workforce, I took jobs at Pizza Hut and a convenience store, until I landed a terrific admin position. (Winters are hard in Cody, so I frequently worked more than one job.)

However, during my sabbatical, I managed to finish my first novel, Murder At The Glen and start my second one, Strong Women.

The winter of ’99 hit hard and I had to seek a second (or was it a fourth?) job. Content in my solitude (divorced with kids raised), I wasn’t looking for a man.  But, as it turns out, one was looking for me.

Andy

My leg of the voyage also began in ’96, though I don’t think I realized it at the time. I’d written some killer papers in high school and college, but never considered writing as a profession. In fact, my career path chose me, rather than me choosing it.

In October 1996, I moved from Tennessee to Wyoming to run the business my family had just bought.  While there, I got to use a little of my creative acumen.

I shaped copy for advertisements, wrote and performed a couple of radio spots, and crafted the menu for The Black Sheep Restaurant & Gib’s Sports Pub.

By ’99, I’d decided I needed to be close to my kids and made plans to move to Kansas City where they now lived.  Then Shawn came to work for us.

Shawn & Andy

We won’t say it was love at first sight – that would just be silly – but the attraction was immediate and strong. 

Our courtship lasted 13 months before Andy asked Shawn to marry him (finally). Two months later we wed and two months after that we migrated to Blue Springs, MO. (We moved fast once we got going.)

Andy leapt into a new career in sales, making one cold call after another. Once again, his creative streak surfaced as he tweaked the standard scripts to perfection and presented hundreds of these little one-act plays weekly. 

He joined Toastmasters and stunned his colleagues with his speeches. At home, he even dabbled in fiction.

Through a series of events (some fortunate, some not), in mid-2003, Shawn was emancipated from her job and with the support of her husband began to write full-time. One of her romance stories, entitled Good Neighbor Policy, appeared in the July 20, 2004 issue of Woman’s World under the nom de plume Shawn Kay Sidwell (maiden name).

Andy had relieved himself of his duties on the sales floor and returned to the restaurant management he loathed. Shawn took various grunt work positions to help put food on the table. But neither of us particularly enjoyed the direction we were headed. 

On a whim, Andy picked up a copy of Writer’s Digest Guide to Writing Nonfiction in the summer of 2004. An article by Peter Bowerman (a household name among copywriters) sparked interest in the idea of starting a commercial writing business.

Laden with library books on the subject (including Peter Bowerman’s, The Well-Fed Writer), we began to get excited about the possibilities. Before long we were hooked. We joined on-line forums, signed up for newsletters, and enrolled in the AWAI Accelerated Program For Six-Figure Copywriting. In the beginning stages, we were also greatly encouraged by Shelle Castles-Melton of The Corporate Writer.

Now the real story begins. We invite you to join us for the next chapter!

P.S.  If you’re at the beginning of your own copywriting career, we suggest you check out The Well-Fed Writer and its sequel, Back For Seconds by Peter Bowerman; Secrets of a Freelance Writer by Bob Bly.  And consider joining the forums at and www.wellfedwriter.com and http://copywritersboard.com. 

P.P.S. Feel free to contact us at: andy_shawn@quicksilvercopywriters.com with any questions you might have. We love to see new copywriters get their businesses off the ground. As others have done for us, we’ll do what we can to help. 

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