I handed my notebook to her with my hands shaking and butterflies in my stomach. It was the very first work in progress that I had ever created and giving it over was nerve wracking. I had the nerve to do so then. I had the nerve to think that I had what it took to create a story and run with it; make something of it. Maybe even make something of myself. I wanted nothing more in life.    Being an author was a huge dream of mine. It was a... more

    We knew the way of life. It was hard, but this is how we grew up. We didn’t have anything, but it didn’t stop us from wanting everything.    In Marysville, everyone had a designated job for the betterment of the community as a whole. A job that was assigned to you based on your abilities and your family’s status. My family had consisted of gardeners for as far back as I knew. Both of my parents were gardeners, my sister... more

 The sun is warming my face, as my eyes flutter open. My eyelashes lift off of my cheeks and lay back down on them slowly. The sun is bright and warm as it shines in through my bedroom window; telling me that Spring is quickly changing into Summer. Alone in my bed, I am curled up in the middle, on my right side. My eyes open fully and take in the scene of smooth, white, cotton sheets and a rumpled, down comforter surrounding my tired body. A smile stretches over my face when I remember... more

    So you've written a book and you can't believe you actually did it. Hell yes!!! You finished a book!! Go you!!    Now what??    Editing. Cool. You send off your manuscript and pray to ALL the gods that they don't eff up all your awesomeness. You sit on your hands, hoping they don't return your work with nothing but red streaks through the entire thing. Is your editor going to be as harsh as... more

    Along with being an author, I am many other things. One of the most important other jobs I have is being a mom. I have five beautiful kids, two Great Danes, and a handful of chickens and ducks. It brings me great joy to be a mom (chef, maid, chauffeur, nurse, therapist, etc.). I have put my writing on the back burner for the majority of my adult life. Not because of my kids, I was taught that my needs weren't important WAY before they were thought of. Over... more

I have spent so many years taking one step forward and two steps back; or three or four. Just because I am an author doesn't mean my brain works all the time. Sometimes there are days that I just can't. Sometimes there are days that I can type 3000-4000 words that day and then others when I just can't make a single sentence work at all. And yes, of course, Google is my best friend. I ask Google to define words and spell words ALL THE TIME. I'm pretty sure that if the CIA... more