Why do I write? Well, over the years it has been for a plethora of reasons. I was not that teenager who was constantly writing short stories in high school, in fact, I barely read for pleasure at that time. Now, and for many years, I love to read. And when I finally decided to give writing a try, I decided to start with a full-length novel, which was quite ambitious feat for me at that time.

When I began working on Royal Affliction, it had no name and I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it if I ever finished it. I was writing for myself, not for others. When I started it, it was a way to therapize myself while stuck in a marriage that made me truly miserable. It was nice to have some little fantasy world to escape to when I couldn’t handle my own reality. I was mostly housebound during that marriage, my husband laying into me pretty much whenever I left the house that it just became not worth it to leave. So, I left in the only way I could, with a pen and paper. Yes, I did not start this series on a computer, but with my own hands in a 6”x9” Mead notebook and a black Bic pen (and many hand cramps).

As the words poured out of me, I felt better, knowing that if my main character could handle all the crap I was flinging her way, that I would be alright as well. For me, writing is much like reading a book that I haven’t read before when the inspirational floodgates open. I honestly do not always know what is going to happen next, and I love it when things come together that I couldn’t have foreseen or forced if I tried. When Royal Affliction was done, plot-wise, my hand went on to continue the tale I hadn’t originally meant as a series, let alone the six books it has grown into during the last ten years.

When I finally was able to gather my strength enough to leave my husband, I had no money, no job and two children to support on my own. I admit, that was a dark time in my life, and, if my father wasn’t the best man in the world, I don’t know what I would have done. But, while I had more stresses, I was happier than I had been in a long time. It was as if my lungs could finally work again. I busied myself with trying to find work and my writing went on the back burner since I no longer needed it the way I had. But, this of course did not end my writing career or I wouldn’t even be writing this.

I had sworn to myself that I would never get married again, when my high school sweetheart contacted me through MySpace (when people still used it). He was going through a divorce himself and had seen a very nasty rant I had blogged about my own situation. Though he had moved to Oregon, he was in town and wanted a friendly face to talk to. I admit I was reserved about it, but I went anyway. Our reunion was befitting of our own novel. Eight years had passed since I had seen him, yet it was as if none at all had gone by. Four months later, I moved to Oregon. This June will mark our 3rd wedding anniversary and we still disgust others with how we act when we are in the same room. No story is completely happy of course. Since we both have children with our exes, there is usually drama there. But with him, I can be myself, my strange, quirky self.

With the job market still not picking up from the recession, I decided to go back to school 2 ½ years ago. I began with aspirations of writing again, taking creative writing classes with my favorite teacher of all time Caroline “Kitty” Lion. That got me writing again, not because I was miserable with my life and needed an escape, but because it made me happy and I wanted to complete the books. Kitty taught me a lot that entire year in which I took her class (3 terms) and I will forever be grateful for all the skills she gave me. Before her, I had a story, but I did not have a novel worthy of putting out there.

It was my husband who encouraged me to publish my books after reading them, and I will admit that it is truly scary to do so. You can’t please everyone, and I have had a couple of bad reviews so far, but I try not to stress over it. If I find myself doing that, the first thing I now do is look for books that I truly love and read the bad reviews on them. It puts things into prospective for me. Never will a book be loved by all. I know my series is a bit different than most of what’s out there, so it may become the target of ridicule, but I try not to dwell, because it takes courage to be different, it takes courage to put something you have written out there for all to see and either enjoy or condemn. With all I have been through in my life, courage may not be my strongest suit, but it is something I know I possess. I hope you fall in love with my series, because that is why I still continue to write. It may initially be for me, but it makes me feel good when someone gets lost in my books and takes the time to contact me with how much they loved it. Sure, the fact that they loved my work might be a thing just for me, but the fact that I can bring them enjoyment means so much more to me.

I never set off on my writing to become rich and famous, because I know that is not realistic for most authors to make a living on their work with few exceptions. But I don’t really want that anyway. I just want my books to go as far as they can to touch readers and give them something to enjoy. To me, that makes it all worth it. So, share them, loan them out, or just download them for free whenever I am able to do those promotions on Amazon. Love my books, hate them, it will not stop me from continuing this tale. I do it for myself and those wanting to know where Quartessa will end up in her abnormal life, no one else.