His message was clear. All too few of us take luck into account when we plan our careers.

I believe, to a certain extent, we make our own luck. We may plan, we may write, we may persist but we must also learn to let go and follow our intuition. Luck - being in right place at right time - has a way of happening whether we plan for it or not. I think trick is to believe that luck will help you - and, for reasons great and mysterious, it will!

So What's Secret Ingredient, Rob?

Now, don't groan, or mock, or do that skyward look on me as I tell you secret ingredient is love.

Let me explain.

You cannot succeed in a vacuum. Success is relative and - in our world - requires assistance and support of those around us to happen. Therefore, love is crucial factor that facilitates our success.

First, you must love your writing. Only then will you give it attention it deserves and make it best that it can be.

You must love writing, and writings of others, for showing you way and for providing medium of communication that means so much to you.

You must love those around you for support they can give you. If you show those around you hate or anger or bitterness, they will not want you to succeed and will unconsciously (or sometimes deliberately) sabotage your success. Not good.

You must love people you deal with in your professional life - agents, publishers and fellow writers. Treat them with suspicion and resentment and they will not want to work with you and help you. Love and trust your peers and your contacts and you'll be surprised how much more they are willing to assist and promote you.

But most of all, you must love yourself - greatest love of all, as they say. Treat yourself kindly, nurture your talent and support your writing habits.

Start here and now, loving what you do and who you are and practice loving everyone and everything around you...you'll be amazed at difference it makes.

Use love as your secret weapon...and success may be just a whisper away.

Of course, this is no magic bullet. An aspiring writer still needs to master mechanics of proper composition, as well as develop his own style. Still, these skills can only come about through practice—and if you’re going to practice, it helps to start with topics that we can launch into with great passion and aplomb.