A new author's experience of the joy and pain writing her first book and screenplay. This book is not a ‘how to guide’ on writing either a book or a screenplay. It’s an account of my personal journey writing, promoting and pitching both my book Olga – A Daughter’s Tale and the screenplay based on my book, Olga. A journey that has brought joy and frustration, in unequal measure – some joy and a lot of frustration! I came to write late in life and as a result of dramatic circumstances. I was in my 50s when my mother had a near-death experience. Mum was Jamaican, born and raised in Kingston. For personal reasons, she had deliberately severed contact with her family in Jamaica. Consequently, I knew little about my family, my heritage, who my relations were or, of particular importance to me, who my father was. Mum’s near-death experience motivated me to make a concerted effort to find her family. As a result of genealogical research and eventually tracing her family, what I discovered filled me with such awe and admiration for her that I wanted future generations of my family to know something about this remarkable woman and also know about their heritage. I wrote Olga – A Daughter’s Tale as a tribute to my mother. I thought it worth sharing my experience since it may assist new writers who are thinking about writing either a book or screenplay from making the same mistakes I did. I’ve written honestly about the highs, the lows, the successes, the failures, the mistakes, and sometimes, the luck that I had with both the book and the screenplay.