I’ve loved reading, writing and the fantasy genre since I was a child. Before turning 7, I hand-wrote (no computer then) and drew several comics of myself as a Pokemon trainer with my mama, Aqua, as my first fan. I frequently visited the elementary school library, pleased when the librarian complimented me on my reading level, and I was constantly on the hunt for bigger and better words. The dictionary and thesaurus were my friends, in addition to other Pokemon nerds.
My family disciplined me and said no to some things (no horse or drums, sadly), but all of them would buy me all of the books I could have ever wanted. I discovered the Harry Potter series the summer before entering middle school, and that’s when my journey really began. I started writing my own fantasy stories in pencil on notebook paper. I don’t remember them in detail. The first story that I finished this way was about a talented ninja that I researched ninjutsu and weaponry for. I wrote a different one when I was 14 about people with animal ears (I loved Inuyasha), channeling my pain and loss into it when my older sister moved to a different state. I didn’t finish that one, and I didn’t share any of them beyond Aqua. I kept reading voraciously: fantasy after fantasy, fairy tale after fairy tale, legend after legend, and mythologies from culture to culture.
In 2005, I started what would become Precious Souls Book One: The Loathing Oblivion that I self-published in January of 2012. I worked on the manuscript, writing poetry on the side (most of which I still have handwritten in a 3-ring binder and spiral notebook), through all of high school. Finishing it in my junior year, I signed a contract with Authorhouse to self-publish it. Due to health complications in my senior year, I essentially disappeared from life and put Precious Souls on hold until 2011 when I polished it for publication.
I did my best with local book signings and getting it stocked in a local bookstore.
The libraries wouldn’t take it unless it was reviewed by someone reputable, which even after several letters and free copies sent, I couldn’t get. Friends and family bought it to support me. While I was training in Reiki, working a full-time job as a waitress, and a part-time gig as a cashier in my little apartment that I moved into at 18, I couldn’t dedicate the time to marketing or networking (not that I knew anything about them).
Self-publishing with Authorhouse, marketing materials, illustrations, and physical books to sell cost money, obviously, which I certainly didn’t have. My family invested in me, and I failed to sell enough to pay them back. The guilt of that and some less than spectacular reviews disheartened my fragile artist’s spirit because I didn’t have the experience or armor to handle them. The idealist within my heart was crushed. I became a Reiki Master, doing the work to repair myself and only shyly sharing my novel. I had become embarrassed by Precious Souls for two reasons: it didn’t sell, and it could be written better. I gave up on the series until just this year when I realized: it was self-published. I could cancel the contract to rewrite it, taking my mature red pen to the manuscript, and polish it to have a sequel. I can’t give up on it. I owe my family and friends who supported it much more than that. When I finish the rewrite, I’m going to give it away to anyone who has a copy of the original version. It’s the least I can do.
After self-publishing and becoming a Reiki Master, I started college the next fall. Disinterested in the piece of paper, I only took classes I was interested in until I discovered theater. I’ve been to a few writing conventions and there are a lot of questions about how to improve writing style. Reading is the typical answer, but I had already done that more than the average person.
For me, theater was the third cornerstone of my professional interests after writing and Reiki. I fell in love and drowned in theater through all of community college. I would meditate and infuse myself with Reiki before every performance, focus with every fiber of my soul, no matter how small the role. I would create my own inner monologue. I took script writing and directing, but my main interests were performance and stage management. Theater improved my writing more than any English class, and truly gave me the tools I needed to ‘show, not tell.’
My writing improved through theater, English tutoring, and writing college papers until I developed my own style. I waited so long to go to college because my high school teachers all insisted that an English major and trying to be a writer was a waste of time. They said I could only be a teacher with a negative tone (even though they were teachers?). Now, when my partner has finished his degree, I’ll be going back to get that English degree to homeschool my son, teach English abroad, and open my own schools.
(Photo right: Retrospect Designs)
I started working on my epic fantasy series, The Fated Magi, shortly after entering a 4-year university in my astronomy class. One of the biggest critiques of Precious Souls was the lack of detail about my setting. I became interested in researching the fantasy genre, building my own world from scratch, and conlangs. I went to the off-hours of astronomy professor, asking if the universe I created seemed fantastically plausible. He said it was in the barest sense, but that’s all I needed.
Where Precious Souls has a soft magic system, The Fated Magi has a hard magic system. They almost couldn’t be more different in so many ways, but both stories are still about love and connection. It’s always been my theme, accompanied by the darkness and loneliness that oppose it. I never gave up on myself as a writer.
Sharing love, connection, and hope through my art and Reiki motivates me more than anything. I build this into my fantasy worlds as much as my real life.
“A smile spread across the lips of a girl who would one day become one with love. Yet before this could happen, she would face betrayal and heartache to become strong; a strength needed by those who are great.”
– Precious Souls Book One: The Loathing Oblivion, page 550
Use my Custom Order Form to buy an off-the-market signed or unsigned copy of Precious Souls. I still have copies that my family bought back in 2012.
Thank you for reading about my writing journey. I hope you’ll tune in for more as I submit to competitions and send queries to literary agents!
Do you have a journey that you won’t give up, no matter the odds?
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