While other kids were riding bikes, I was writing stories.
I love books.
Everything I’ve learned about writing has grown from my love of reading. I began my writing career at the tender age of seven, when I wrote a play for my third-grade class. It was not an assignment; I did it because I discovered I loved creative writing as much as I loved reading. I received a children’s typewriter the next year, and countless short stories followed.
I wrote some awful poetry during my teen years, then some not-so-awful short stories over the next two decades. I became serious about writing books in 2012. The timing felt right, and I created the world-altering habit of writing every day.
My first published novel, Secrets Under the Mesa, began as a short story. I decided it had some legs and went with it and published it in 2014. The inspiration for The Troop of Shadows Chronicles emerged from two directions: my love of post-apocalyptic fiction and an interest in disaster preparedness.
Stephen King says, “Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”
The hard work is worth it. I hope you enjoy my novels. I wrote them for fellow book lovers just like you.
I live in the suburbs of Dallas, Texas, with my husband and two spoiled rotten rescue dogs..
My Professional Writing Career Timeline
2014
Published my first book on Amazon. Secrets Under the Mesa. It’s hard to put your first book out for total strangers to read and judge. Fortunately readers enjoyed the book.
2016
Published Troop of Shadows, book 1 in the Troop of Shadows Chronicles. When I wrote the book I didn’t expect it to turn into a series. As it turned out, the Troop of Shadows Chronicles is my most successful so far. I published book 2 in the series, Beauty and Dread later in 2016 too.
2017
Halloween has always been my favorite holiday so in makes sense that I would like to publish a horror book. I had a number of ideas in my head and make them all short stories and included them in Dead Leaves, Dark Corners. A vanity project for sure.
2018
The Troop of Shadows series was getting a lot of traction and I published book 3 in the series, Moving with the Sun.
2020
Published the fourth book in the Troop of Shadows series, What Befalls the Children.
2022
Published book 5 in the Troop of Shadows Chronicles, Those Who Come the Last. After 5 books I made the decision to take a break from post-apocalyptic and write a horror series.
2023
Published the first book in A Monstrous Dread series, Demon Chase. I really enjoy writing in this genre and actually published the second book in the series, Troubled Spirits later in the same year.
2024
Book 3 in A Monstrous Dread series, A Different Kind of Monster was published early in 2024. I followed book 3 up with book 4, Abominable later in 2024.
The Tools I Use For Writing
Writing Tools
Atticus – This is a program that greatly simplifies the formatting of your books for publication. Amazon can be quite picky when it comes to the formatting process and Atticus is a great tool.
It does have a bit of a steep learning curve.
Word – I use Microsoft Word for my every day writing. I don’t always agree with its suggestions but I am so familiar with the program I can’t change. I have actually tried other “writing” programs and found them to be cumbersome and I simply don’t have the patience to learn a new program.
Pro Writing Aid – This is a great editing program. It will gently make formatting suggestions as well as telling me that I have used the word “actually” 93 times in the manuscript and maybe I should take a look at that. I get extremely annoyed and frustrated with the program but I know it makes the finished product better.
Deranged Doctor – I have used them to design all my book covers. They are not cheap but the book cover is the first thing to make an impression on a potential new reader and I consider it an investment in my success.
Beta Readers – I love my beta readers. They help make my books so much better. I admit I get defensive when a beta reader (or anyone else for that matter) makes a suggestion about my books and/or writing. I’m soft skinned and I have accepted that I will never change. I have learned to not over react. Okay, maybe I over react a little but they all know me by now and fortunately don’t take offense.