Unlike many of the stories you hear from authors, my plan growing up wasn’t to spend my life at a computer cranking out best-sellers. Nope. I wanted to be a veterinarian. From the time I was about six up until my second year in college caring for animals was my goal.
But life has a funny way of steering you off a planned path. After two and a half years of college classes preparing me for vet school, I realized I was not cut out for life as a veterinarian. A few college major changes later and I ended up with a degree in English.
I’m sure you’ve heard the joke about liberal arts degrees. The one about learning to ask, “Do you want fries with that?” Well, thankfully, my path didn’t lead me to the fast food industry but it did lead me to Tennessee (from Idaho).
After two years working as an editorial coordinator for a flailing magazine publisher, I saw the writing on the wall and decided to get out while the getting was good. With a visit to a temp agency, a couple random jobs, and a call to come to a company and “just clear off the fax machines and sort the paper” led to a fifteen-plus year desk job.
While I wrote when I was young and a little in college, once I moved to Tennessee, I set it aside while I became established. It wasn’t until a co-worker mentioned NaNoWriMo in 2014 that I was encouraged to start writing again. I did the NaNo challenge and finished my book but at the end of November, I had an idea for the next book (and thus began my first book series). I wrote that in December. Once again, before the end of the month, the creative juices were flowing for the third book.
Despite my demanding job, I still sneak time in to read write and edit even though the going can be slow at times (hence my decision to start via the self-publishing route). And thankfully, the story ideas are still coming. And in 2022, I have a book releasing with a publisher.
