I never planned on writing a book.
Sure, I wrote in school when asked and there was a collective groan when I got up to read my fifteen-page story in the fifth grade. But, writing wasn’t on the menu as a grown-up. I got a degree, I was a teacher, a wife and mother.
But then my child had a near-death experience. He needed one-on-one care and I was the only person equipped to care for him. I quit my job and kept him and his twin sister home. They were nine months old at the time.
Now, if you are a creative person, like me, you can’t help but make stuff. And you understand that when a creative’s brain is shut off from doing what it is hard wired to do, it begins to percolate, to leak ideas, to create sleepless nights while those ideas spin around and around in your brain until they MUST be acted upon so you can finally get some freaking sleep.
I had to write these ideas down before they consumed me. Eventually, I hot-glued a huge, long, blank sheet of paper to the wall in my hallway and I started taking notes. And as I wrote, I realized that I had a story to tell.
While feeding my twins one day, I imagined a smart, caring druis who would do anything for her family and friends. I named her Avalina.
A handsome, sexy, jerk who was in trouble and needed a savior came to me in the middle of the night while I stood in the hallway, listening to my son breathe while he slept. Who better to help him than Avalina?
But, I also have a love for smart, sexy, dorky guys who are turned on by a good puzzle (enter my husband, ahem…) Inventor Tobias came to my mind while I was doing laundry. He, of course, needed a twin, so I gave him his sister, Dahlia, who is a metallurgist mage.
And, as every story needs, a good villain. But, I didn’t want just any villain. He had to feel justified, to have a true purpose for what he was doing. A man willing to sacrifice for what he believed was the greater good. Commodore Theodore Van Alst is exactly that. But, with a twist.
Each and every character that came to me had an agenda, something they needed to say, to do, and make me believe their story was the true one. I needed to work out their truths and lies, their plans and what they really wanted versus what they truly needed. I weaved their lives together on this big, blank sheet of paper glued to my wall in the spare moments I had throughout the day.
I did this for three years. Three years of ideas, jumping in and out, organizing themselves on the wall. Every time I walked by, I’d grab the pencil I had stuck next to it and write something new.
When the twins were old enough to go to school three days a week, I thought to myself, “I have time. I’m going to write that story.”
So, I wrote.
I wrote it in three months. Now, it’s taken me another three to learn, edit, rewrite, figure out my voice, rewrite it again, send it to friends, family, editors, beta readers, get feedback, and rewrite it again.
A year after I began writing, and four years after I quit teaching to take care of my son, I will have a book. A book I wrote. (I still kind of can’t believe it and will probably cry when it’s finally in my hands.) Three Coins From a Dead Man’s Pocket is Book One in my Realms of Souls Saga.
I now have three huge, long pieces of paper taped to the walls in my hallway. Some are full of scribbles, some have only one or two notes. But, they are filling up all the time. I can’t wait to discover new characters, new worlds, and new romances that NEED to be told or my brain will explode. I’m excited to get their stories out of my head, through my fingers, and into your hearts.
I don’t have a hard date for release just yet, but I’m aiming for August 2023.
Blurb sneak peek: A powerful druis with a thousand-year-old secret. An unpredictable love that breaks all the rules. And an ancient soul plotting to destroy the barriers that keep their realms safe.
Want to read the ENTIRE blurb AND be the first to know when my book releases? Join my email list HERE.
The next stop for Realms of Souls info is my Facebook group. I’ll have announcements for release date, merch, contests, freebies, and other thoughts about characters that I have no idea what to do with. Accept for probably writing them on a blank piece of paper on my wall. 😂
And, occasionally, I feel the urge to make a video. You can hear my ramblings first hand if you follow me on TikTok.
