I first started writing when I was recovering from gall bladder surgery back when they still slit you right up the middle. Though my doctors told me about the new procedure, they also said they didn’t have that capability. So glad they told me that. pffft
Anyway, this was 1990. I was out of work for a month and decided to take up my time writing a book. So, I started typing away. I got 3 chapters and the beginning of a fourth finished.
But I decided to finish my career in the US Navy first, which ended in 2001. I immediately started a new job and worked in it (matter-of-fact I still am) for another 8 years before I started writing again. I wanted to write this book for my kids to have something of me. It turned out waiting that long paid off. The internet came into its own and I was able to research places and times to fit my story. It evolved from what I’d foreseen 18 years earlier. I wrote during my lunch break for 2 years, typing the chapters as I completed them. As I was working it, I noticed I had changed, which made the flavor of the story change along with me.
Anyway, I published “On Account of a Wish” in 2011. I had done what I set out to do. Suddenly, I found myself with nothing to do at lunch. So, I came up with a story and built a board game for my characters to fall into. Unlike Jumanji, my characters were transported. And that was how “The Monarch of Pyramid Mountain” came. It only took me 10 months to write. I had found the trick to self-publishing and got it out on Amazon and learned how to format for Kindle as well.
With the writing bug having totally infected me, I tried my hand at first person. My next book became a mystery with the reader only knowing what the main character knew and no more. This was tough, but quite rewarding. “Subliminal Target” was published right away, too.
I then went back to suspense and wrote 13 chapters of “Beware of Those You Mourn.” As I got further along, I was fighting a little bit of writer’s block, when I stumbled on an idea for a romance novel, something I never intended to write. The plot was so compelling, I suddenly dropped my current novel and picked it up.
I felt so good about the novel, that I thought maybe I could get it published instead of self-publishing. I sent it off to 4 publishers and had my butt handed to me. It took some time and a little heartache, but I picked it back up and rewrote the 26th chapter and added 5 more. I also went line by line rewriting the entire book where I felt it needed help. I submitted it for publishing and eXtasy Publishing picked it up. They were responsible for the cover and the formatting, not to mention editing. Because of them, I know I put out a superior quality product, and it was upon the publishing of “Straight from the Heart” that I truly felt I was a legitimate writer.
While I was waiting for my romance novel to come out, I wrote the sequel of my Monarch series, “The Myth of Pyramid Mountain.” The first was teenagers, this one was adults. Having self-published the first, I did the same with this one. It would be the last novel I published myself.
When my romance hit the street, I got such good reviews by my readers and a 5 star professional review from a firm my publisher submitted it to, I found myself being asked to follow it up. “Back to the Heart” is the result. I used the same secondary characters and changed the primaries. Another great cover from Extasy and the second of what was to become a 3 book series arrived.
My publisher had a call for a summer shorts series, so I wrote and submitted a story called “Summer Surprise.” It came available on Independence Day 2017. I had to fight to keep it under 10,000 words, which was their limit. It’s about a girl who goes home from college and waits for her boyfriend of 3 years to join her. She gets the surprise of her life in more than one way.
My next endeavor was to write an inspirational adventure. “Banking on Life” takes place in the Adirondacks and shows a dysfunctional family the importance of working together. Since this wasn’t a romance, Extasy’s sister company, Devine Destinies, picked it up.
After a long hiatus, my was to be 4th book, “Beware of Those you Mourn,” finally became a reality. I added romance into it and lengthened it to become my second longest story. It turned into my 8th book.
Extasy asked for submissions to their Christmas shorts and I submitted a story that was barely small enough to include (just under 10,000 words again). It came out a few days before Christmas. I called it “The Magic of Christmas,” about a guy who finds an ornament that boasts of finding true love before Christmas day.
The 3rd of my Heart series, “Character of the Heart,” was released next. Same wonderful secondary characters and new primaries. Had a struggle on this cover. But during the editing process, I overcame it by writing the look into one of the chapters. I may have compromised on the cover, but I will never compromise on content. I plan to keep my readers happy for years to come. This novel also received a 5 star rating from a professional reviewer.
I just submitted the next novel, my 10th, which is a suspense written in first person, called “The Reluctant Private Eye.” It is in the eyes of a recent widow who wants to find out how her husband really died.
I had to put down that novel for a short spell to submit a New Year’s short story for my publisher. I expect this heart warmer to be released right around New Years Day. It’s called “Choosing Fate.” It’s about an embittered shopkeeper who catches an orphaned boy stealing, but hires him temporarily to try and win back his assistant who walked out during the busiest season. An excerpt is available on this site.
I have begun my next story. It centers around a note. eXtasy has recently started a new heading called “Notes.” In keeping with that, my next novel will be called “On a Side Note.”
If you wish to learn a little more about me, check out the videos I created showing the actual places I wrote about in my “Heart” series novels.
