It's Been a Long Time Coming

It's been a long time. Probably too long, but I've been so engrossed with healing and finding my path in life, I haven't been keeping track of how long it's been since I last created a story. To be honest, I didn't think I would ever write again. I thought that part of me had faded.

It hasn't.

I can't remember the last time I had a manuscript in front of me that was ready for edits. The best part about it is knowing that I did that. I put words onto a page.

The story needs work. It is far from perfect, but I have a start. I have a stack of papers.

I have no idea where my writing is going from here, but it won't be the same place it was before. I need to get through this story. Get my legs back under me, and then go from there. At this point, it's all about baby steps. This first one feels amazing.

How I Started Writing Young Adult

When I first started writing, I didn't have intentions of being a young adult writer. I just wanted to write. However, as time progressed and I got some feedback on stories, it became clear that writing young adult stories could be thrilling and fun. Below is the story of how I starting writing young adult.

I am fascinated with zombies—obsessed, if you will—and I have been since the first time I watched Night of the Living Dead many, many years ago. When I get really stressed out, I often dream of the undead and have to find ways to fight against them. That is where the inspiration for Life After the Undead came from.

I don’t remember the exact details, but I recall that my spouse and I were hiding in a small town while all of the zombies were migrating through. They were heading West so the humidity didn’t cause them to deteriorate faster. I woke up and thought, “Hey, that’s a great idea!” So I fleshed out the story.

It started out as a short story focusing on one small snippet in time. That story was published somewhere (I can’t remember and it’s no longer linked on my blog), and then I decided to expand it into a novel.

The first attempt was an adult novel. I’m fairly certain there were some cuss words in it and a bit more carnage. I decided to send out queries for the story to agents. For the first round, I sent it to 31 agents, all of which rejected it, except one who suggested I turn it into a young adult novel and then resubmit.

So I did. This required me to clean up the language a bit, take out some of the gore (although it still has its fair share), and make my main character a bit more naïve. I believe I also changed it from third person to first person. I sent it back in, feeling pretty good, and then she rejected it. But that didn’t discourage me. I sent it out again as a young adult novel.

For the second round, I queried 28 agents, all of whom rejected it. After that, I sent it to a few indie publishers, and one of them picked it up. I met a book cover designer online who painted (honest to goodness painted!) covers, so I commissioned him to create the cover.

The way the deal worked was that he would send the cover idea, then it was up to the publishing company to put on the title and my byline, which they did. The artist was then free to sell the original painting, which he did. However, I decided that I liked it so much I wanted one for my collection, so I asked him to create me another with my title and byline on it. It wasn’t something he normally did, but he did it for me.

Life After the Undead is one of my favorite stories. One of the things I like so much about zombies is that they allow me to explore the question of what it means to be human. That’s a theme that runs through a lot of my books.

In addition to Life After the Undead, I also have my young adult demon series, The Road to Salvation. There are three books in this series, including The Appeal of Evil, Dealing with Devils, and Good Intentions.

My latest book series, Saving Humanity, also has a young adult main character. Currently, there are two books in this series, Humanity's Hope and Edge of Humanity. The third book, Finding Humanity, has been written, and I am almost done with a rough draft of the fourth book, Saving Humanity.

Writing young adult is lot of fun. It allows me to create characters that don't have a lot of life experience and put them in situations that they have to learn and grow from or be destroyed by. They don't always come out of the experience as well-adapted humans, but they learn lessons along the way.



For this week's giveaway, one lucky winner has the chance to win ecopies of my books. Unfortunately, Humanity's Hope, Edge of Humanity, and Life Lessons from Slasher Films aren't included, but there are plenty of other books to check out. Enter now for a chance to win! 

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Dabbling in Poetry

For the month of February, I have the honor and privilege of co-teaching a writing workshop with another adjunct through the Central Community College community outreach program.

The first 2 weeks focused on poetry (taught by Scott), and the next 2 weeks will be fiction and nonfiction (taught by me).

Poetry isn’t really my thing, but since the other instructor asked the participants to write some for class, I thought I would give it a try. I would like to share my poems with you.

For this first poem, we were tasked with using specific words in the poem. The words were: cows, tricycle, table, thimble, and drum. Here’s my poem.

Visions of Me

Let the world view me as it may.

Let it see me as a cow,
bloated,
mindless,
concerned with only feeding my desires.

Let it see me as a beaver,
industrious,
busy,
constructing walls to contain and protect myself.

Or let it see me as a circus bear,
dressed in bright colors,
riding a tricycle,
doing what I can to entertain.

I will take the world’s views of me and store them in a thimble,
left on a table in a back room,
taking them out to read when I lose my vision of myself.

Until then,
let me view myself as I may and continue moving forward,
marching to the beat of my own drum.


This next poem is a sensory poem.

A New Space

I stood at the window,
Looking out,
Waiting for the world to feel familiar.

The blues, greens, oranges, and yellows that normally colored the world had faded to various grays and white.

The scents of wildflowers and freshly mowed grass was replaced with the tang of a campfire long since extinguished.

The sun that used to warm my shoulders was covered by clouds.

The breeze that moved heat across the land was now a chill that formed goosebumps on exposed flesh.

There was a sameness to the shape of the land,
How the parts put themselves together,
But there was a difference in the feel.

The world seemed less inviting,
Blanketed with coldness and cruelty.

It appeared sad and lonely,
Hurtful and scary,
Rather than enlightened and safe.

I stood at the window,
Looking out,
Waiting for the world to feel familiar.

Happy New Year!

Photo by Roven Images on Unsplash

2019 is here, and with it comes the opportunity and hope of something better than last year. While I have no doubt it will be full of ups and downs, I hope there are more ups than downs.

Some of my goals for this year include getting more writing done (I’m currently trying to finish the 3rd book in the Saving Humanity series).

There will also be new challenges (I’m teaching a class at the local community college).

I will continue to work on feeling better and keeping my anxiety and depression under control. I’m optimistic that I will be successful because I’ve learned so much in the past few months.

I wish all of you a wonderful, productive, pleasant 2019!

That Moment When the Passion Comes Flooding Back

I’ve been struggling for the past several months. Well, honestly, it’s probably been closer to the vast majority of this year. I lost my motivation and desire to write, even though every so often I was able to put some words on the page. It’s been incredibly slow, but there has been some progress made.

At the end of last week, I had an amazing day. I actually wanted to write, and the words flowed from me like water. I felt energized and excited and motivated. It felt good. It was beyond good. It was euphoric!

Writing is a weird thing for a writer. On one hand, we want to be able to do it every day to feel normal and productive and accomplished. But the words don’t come easily to us every day. Some days are worse than others, and that can make us feel like failures or hacks. When the words don’t flow freely, I definitely feel like a failure. I wonder if I’m even supposed to be a writer, and this spiral of shame, guilt, and lack of motivation begins. I try to push through those moments, but sometimes it doesn’t always work.

The days that the words do flow freely are magical. They are what sustain writers and keep them moving forward. For me, it feels like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders and this is what I’m supposed to do. I no longer feel like a hack, and the only feelings that drifts through me are excitement and wonder. Yeah, those days are amazing. They definitely bring back the passion and desire to want to write.

I’m currently working on the third book in the Saving Humanity series. As of now, it’s called Finding Humanity. While I still have a long way to go, the path is getting smoother. It doesn’t feel so hard to write right now, and I’m going to hang on to that for as long as I can.

As a reminder, the other two books in the series are Humanity’s Hope (available now) and Edge of Humanity (coming this fall). In total, I plan on having four books in this series, so after Finding Humanity, I still have one more to right. Fingers crossed the passion is still there.

Finally Feeling “Normal"

The month of January has been a tough one for me. I’ve spent the vast majority of it coughing. After 2.5 weeks of dealing with my lungs trying to leave my body through my mouth, I went to the doctor. They put me on a heavy-duty dose of antibiotics, and I’m on the road to recovery.

Because I’ve been sick, I haven’t had a lot of motivation. I’ve been spending a lot of my time sitting in front of the TV or sleeping. There’s been no desire to write because my brain hasn’t been able to form a coherent thought. Now that I’m feeling better, my motivation is returning.

If there was anything good that came out of being sick it was that I was sleeping more and was taking medication, both of which had an impact on my dreams. I’ve mentioned previously one of the dreams I had, but I also had another one recently. This second one feels like a real contender to become a story.

It’s hard to say if the story will be good or not until I get it on paper. However, I’m excited about the prospect. Until I start, I won’t know if the story is worth finishing.

So, as I return to “normal,” I will get back to writing. As always, I will keep you informed of my progress.

How Do I Know When My Story Is Done?

Like so many questions about writing, this one is difficult to answer. Technically speaking, your story is never really done. There are always ways to change it and improve it. However, at some point, you have to make the decision that the story is good enough. You have to say that you aren’t going to make any more changes.

This can be difficult. It can be hard to know if the story is “good enough.” After all, we are our own worst critics, so we never believe that our work is “good.”

One thing that might help is to have others read your story. Start with an editor (or two), so you can fix any content or character problems. Then, you’ll need to make sure your grammar and sentence structure are correct. After your story has gone through a few rounds of editing with a professional editor, then you can send it to beta readers.

Beta readers play an incredibly important role in the writing process, and it’s a job that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Like an editor, beta readers give you suggestions on how to improve your story. In most cases, beta readers have not been trained as editors, but as readers, they know what works in a story and what doesn’t.

The goal of your story should be to invoke some type of emotional response in your reader. To do this, they have to understand what your story is about, what emotions you are trying to convey, and react to your characters in either a good or bad way (not all characters have to be likable). If you haven’t accomplished this goal, then you’ve probably failed in your writing attempt. That means you probably need to go back and rework your story.

Editors and beta readers are great resources for helping you achieve your writing goal. They can point out flaws and plot holes, along with ways to improve them. However, keep in mind that everyone who reads your book will bring their own experiences and biases to the work. No two people will react to it the same way—and that can further complicate if you view your story as finished or not.

Every reader is unique, and even if readers aren’t reacting the same way to your story, if they are still reacting, you’ve probably accomplished your goal. Some will love it, and some will hate it, but as long as they aren’t saying, “Huh? I don’t get it,” then you’re on the right track. (Side note: there still may be a few readers who are confused by your story, but as long as the majority of them aren’t having this issues, you’ll be just fine!)

In the end, no matter what an editor or a beta reader says, you are still the creator of the story, you get final say in what gets changed and what doesn’t. Editors and beta readers will have different ideas of how a scene should play out or about a character’s personality, but you get to make the final determination if you take their suggestions or not.

Writing is both a simple and complicated process. There are rules, but there aren’t any rules. When it comes to creating, most of the time you have to follow your heart and your head to determine when the story is done.

Slow Down, Life! I Need to Catch Up!

OK. I’m over this being busy thing. I need time to regroup and catch up on writing. It’s been too long since I’ve been able to sit and work on my own stuff. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been working on my stories when I can, but I need a block of time—a week, or at the very least, a few days—so I can finish edits. It’s driving me crazy to feel so far behind!

And it’s not only in my writing that I’m lagging, it’s everyday life. My house is a mess and my laundry needs to be finished. I’ve been trying to stay caught up, but it’s a never-ending process. It doesn’t help that I’m super tired and have no motivation.

Because I’ve fallen behind, I totally forgot to announce the winner of the Stuck in a Good Book Blog Hop. It was Jana. Woot! Woot! Thank you to everyone who participated!

Despite the fact that time is getting away from me and I’m woefully behind, there have been a few fantastic occurrences that happened recently. I got to spend time with my mother-in-law last weekend, which was fabulous. The boys were so excited to see their grandma. We took a trip to the zoo and had a chance to relax and visit.

I’ve had a few bites on narrators for the audiobook of Life After the Undead, so (hopefully) that works out better this time than it did last time.

Halloween is right around the corner, so there’s that to look forward to.

I keep hoping that things will slow down so I can catch my breath and get caught up. I didn’t post all last week because I’ve been so far behind. Life keeps getting in the way. You’d think by now I’d be able to figure out how to work around these obstacles, but it can be incredibly difficult and draining.

From here, all I can do is move forward. I’m keeping my head up and hoping for the best. I’ll do what I can when I can. Eventually, I should get my tasks accomplished.

I Have to Get My Butt in Gear

This week is my last week of freedom. On Friday, I start my new job, which means I’ll have a new schedule. You may recall, having a schedule is very important to me, but changing my schedule can be tough.

That was incredibly apparent in the last 2 weeks when I had to throw in some days of training. Sure, I had a schedule in place so I could get things done at home during the day, but I had to shift gears so I could get the boys to daycare and get myself to a place that wasn’t my house—all an hour earlier than I was used to.

I did all right. I wasn’t late to any of my appointments, but my day suffered. By the end of the day, I was tired and unmotivated to do anything besides sit on the couch and watch TV. I didn’t get any writing done. Most days, I didn’t get any exercising done either because I dreaded waking up at 5:00 am to work out, so I didn’t.

However, all of that is going to have to change soon. My schedule will have to shift if I’m going to be productive during the day. For the first few weeks, I’m going to be dragging butt, but eventually, I’ll get used to my new schedule. Then, I’ll be as productive as I was before and be able to get some writing done!

It’s Been So Quiet

Since last Wednesday, the boys have been with their grandma and grandpa. And my house has been so quiet. I both enjoy and hate those times.

As you can imagine, I enjoy not having to yell at my kids. It’s nice not to constantly tell them to stop fighting and if they can’t figure out how to share no one gets the ______ (fill in the blank). The doors aren’t slammed every time they go in and out of the house, and the dogs aren’t barking every two seconds because one of the boys is messing with them. (They’re just barking every two seconds because someone walks by on the sidewalk in front of the window.)

But on the other hand, I also don’t get to hear them laugh or have fun with one another. They aren’t here to tell me stories about the video they just watched on YouTube or what they saw on their bike rides. Sure, I call them and hear about their day, but it’s not the same as having them in the same house. If you’re a parent, you know the love/hate moment I’m going through.

Because it’s been so quiet, I’ve had lots of time to get my writing done, and I’ve taken full advantage. I still feel like the story is taking f-o-r-e-v-e-r to write, but I have to keep reminding myself that I’m not in a race and progress is occurring quite nicely.

I’ve also had time to catch up on my TV shows and start a new series. Has anyone else seen Snowfall on FX? It’s incredibly fascinating.

I’m enjoying the quiet while I can (and as much as I can). My boys will be home soon enough, then everything will be loud once again.