“Never give up, never surrender.” If I had not listened to that, I wouldn’t be published right now. Look it up. It’s in the acknowledgements of Vigilante Nights.

I wish that I could, but I support myself and don’t yet make enough at writing to keep a roof over my head. Fortunately, I work in corporate America at a job I love. Between my day job and my writing, my days and nights are pretty full and quite fulfilling. I always wish there were more hours in the day so I could write more and faster, but I’ll keep hanging onto that dream!

Other than spending time at my day job, I love to read, watch TV (sometimes too much reality TV), dabble in photography and graphics and my newest thing is gardening and re-landscaping my backyard.

I love romance and every book I've written has a romance angle in it. Having said that, paranormal/psychic fiction is my favorite to write. There's something about the ability of the mind to do extraordinary things that fascinates me. Anything from telekinesis, telepathyy, to clairvoyance and seeing ghosts factor in my books. Now I do like writing contemporary fiction without any speculative element. That was a big change for me with DRAGONFLY NIGHTMARE, and I enjoyed writing it. It gave me a healthy break from all the extreme paranormal/fantasy world building.

Sorry, it’s not good business for authors to read manuscripts by other authors unless you have a critique partnership. Also, my time is extraordinarily limited since I have such little time for writing and the business of selling books. If you’re looking for a critique partner, check the "Beta Readers, Mentors and Writing Buddies" thread at the Absolute Write Forums.

There are so many authors who do it much better than I do and have been self-publishing longer. I recommend you read as much as you can about it. Start with these great books:

Persevere. Don’t ever give up chasing your dream. Even when you’ve gotten hundreds of agent rejection letters or every publishing house has turned you down and you want to chuck it all, keep writing. It only takes one editor or one agent to like your first, third or even your tenth book. If writing is in your blood, you’ll never be able to give it up no matter which path you take with your writing.

The first novel I wrote when I was eighteen was originally inspired by S.E. Hinton’s classic novel, The Outsiders, one of my favorite all time novels. Memories of gang activity and street racing from my teen years also played a role in the plotting. The story had stayed with me for years, and I always wanted to update and write it with a fresh outlook and more experience. Despite hearing that the market was soft for books written from a boy’s POV, Lucas’s story begged to be written and published. I couldn’t ignore my muse! Vigilante Nights bears only slight resemblance to that long-ago story, but Lucas’s coming of age in a time of tragedy remained constant.

Books. Pretty much everything I read inspires me in one way or another. There are so many creative authors in the world, with fantastic ideas, characters (real or fake) and great word-painting. Imagine how only twenty-six letters of the alphabet can create so much entertainment!

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

The Hobbit by J.R. Tolkein

The Mists of Avalon by Marion B. Zimmerman

Rhapsody by Elizabeth Haydon

My favorite books of 2023: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (mainstream fiction); Sugar and Salt by Susan Wiggs (women's fiction); The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell (domestic suspense). I didn't read as much as I wanted to in 2023. But it hasn't stopped me from buying books!

The Handmaid's Tale

Outlander

The Cleaning Lady

All Creatures Great and Small

Family Law

Marie Antoinette

Fire Country

Ghosts

Yellowstone

Virgin River

So Help Me Todd

Favorite Reality Series: The Traitors, Big Brother, and Survivor