Welcome to my blog! This is my official greeting to you, and a little bit about my journey as a writer.
I've always been an avid reader, and I've loved writing since I was very young. Well actually, that's not entirely true. I remember when my mother tried to teach me how to read and I fought her tooth and nail because I preferred her reading to me instead. Funny how I can't stand having someone reciting a story in my ear these days.
The first book that got me interested in writing was Dragon's Milk by Susan Fletcher. This began my love and my obsession with dragons and lead me to write two books...on lined paper. I still remember waking up early in the morning and scribbling down the story before I went to school. I still have my Lisa Frank folder with the story tucked safely away from the light of day. May it rest in pencil-streaked pieces.
In middle school and high school I dabbled in books such as Harry Potter, Sword of Truth, and the Valdemar series. But it wasn't until I read Redwall by the late Brian Jacques that I realized I wanted to turn my love for writing into a profession. He was the one who taught me how to hear, taste, feel, smell, and see everything in his stories. His descriptions of food left me drooling...his music left me humming false chords to myself. I even figured out how to write a clarinet piece for the Redwall show. I loved every single book, and he became my role model. Because of those books, I joined the Redwall Online Community (ROC), and met other book lovers. I learned to role play and was introduced to so many wonderful people and writers like myself. When Brian Jacques died, the ROC died with him, and so did a little bit of my creative heart. I wrote an ode to the bard, and I still miss waiting for his next books to come out. I actually have yet to read his final book because once I close the back cover, I think it will really hit me that the bard is gone.
I really started getting into the feel for writing when I worked on my anthropomorphic wolf stories during high school and college. I wrote a few books, which are currently sitting on the back burner, waiting desperately for me to recreate the world and make the stories and characters come to life again. I decided about three years ago to put a halt to the books when I realized that I was losing my passion for the characters and the plot. I didn't want to resent the stories, so I let them rest while my creativity tried to get back on track.
Thus entered what I will fondly refer to as TOTC (no, I will not be giving a title yet, because it may not stay the same). One night I had a dream about a character and a storyline that I thought would be rather interesting. It was a book set in a medieval world with my own lands, nobility, and warriors. Initially I thought the book would be about 22 chapters and would be perfect as a first book to get out to the public. Hopefully it would pave the way for my wolf series.
Three years later, and the book is currently 3 books long with about 70 chapters, and counting. I decided about a year ago that if I wanted the whole story to be told and every character to be heard that I would have to bite my tongue, take a breath, and split it into three books. It was frustrating, and I kicked and screamed for several months before I finally relented. This forced me (in a happy way) to rewrite a lot of book 1 and to include an additional 100 pages. Book 1 has been rewritten and is in its second draft. Book 2 is in the process of being edited and rewritten. Book 3 is about 100 pages in with quite a few left to go. I'm hoping that within the next couple years I will be able to publish these books and actually call myself an author.
Granted, I can say I'm a writer since I have had work published, poetry primarily. I'll list my publications as they happen in case you, my dear readers, are interested in checking them out. Here, I intend to blog about various writing techniques and experiences I've had. If you have any writing questions for me, I will try to blog about those as well. I might try to offer you writing exercises as well in hopes that I can find the inner writer in all of you. I intend to get a post out once a week...hopefully more.
So welcome to my page, and enjoy!