I'm sure I've written about this before, but one of the greatest compliments to me as an author is to hear that someone has had an emotional reaction to my writing.  Tears, laughter, anger, pity... an emotional response makes writing worthwhile.  Being told someone can't put your book down, they have to see what happens, that they're emotionally attached to the characters really makes me feel successful, even without having a novel published yet, and gives me the drive to continue on.

Thank you to all who have read my books and have shared with me your reactions.  I appreciate that more than I could possibly express in a short blog post.  You are the people who make me want to write more, you are the ones who I do write for.

Summer is almost upon us, although if I look at the temperature gauge, we are WELL into it.  With it comes new inspiration.  I am currently working on a prequel to Dark Eyes, a novella that will introduce the readers to Ashlyn and her life before Brian, including details that had to be cut from the novel, giving important information about the discovery of her gift, interactions with her family, and finally, the first interaction with Rick Thompson.  Look for this to be posted on this site and hopefully available for free for ereader downloads.

Thank you, Andrea, for coming up with this amazing and inspirational idea.

It's less than 30 days until Christmas.  Where has the year gone?  In 2011, I've managed to write an entire novel, half of another one, and start two new ones.  If only there were enough hours in the day for me to effectively get everything that's locked inside my head out.

I'm looking forward to 2012 and hope that's as productive as 2011 has been.  Hopefully we'll see these books in print soon, too.

It seems like this year has been a non-stop writing marathon for me.  With two stories in the series written, the third half-way done, and the fourth (final) one in the planning stages, I've come to a well-needed break in the process.  I began struggling with the ability to keep the story moving, despite the fact that it's leading up to a climatic moment.  Instead of forcing the story out, I decided to step back from it for a couple of weeks and write non-related pieces.  The process has been invigorating; I'm finally looking forward to getting back to Lost Soul instead of dreading sitting down with it.

What's the first thing you do when you get a new book, especially one in a series you've been reading?  Me?  I pick a random page toward the end and skim it over.  I need assurances that no matter what journey the author takes me on, it's going to be okay in the end.

I think I take a similar approach to my writing.  With the Dark Eyes series, I never finish one book without knowing how the next one will begin.  After the "I've gotta finish what I started in the last book" part is over, I focus on the end game.  How will this book end?  Where will the next one begin and what will it look like?  How can I include that on the journey I'm on when I'm writing the things that lead up to that point.

As I've previously mentioned, writing a story is a lot like reading a story to me.  As I do anything when I have my "writing hat" on, I see the story I want to tell.  It takes shape and transforms as I put the words on the paper (or screen).

I enjoyed being told recently that a friend got to a point in Troubled Minds and had to skip to the end to make sure things got better.  This is the reaction I want from my readers.  I want them to be mad at me, cry in the spots that made me cry, laugh when I laughed... I want them to have to know the ending when they're in the stressful parts.

I imagine the next time I meet an author, I'm going to pay them the complement that I want to hear: I had to skip to the end to mak

Writing to me is a passion.  It's like a when you can't wait to get back to the good book you're reading.  I feel this way most of the time when I'm not parked in front of my computer.  It was evident to me when I was on a week long vacation with my family.  Standing in lines, driving, eating meals, walking around... my brain was continuing the story without my fingers typing away.  Of course every night I'd rush back to the hotel to outline pieces of the story I'd put together or attempt to connect to my home computer through the slow hotel wi-fi, spending much needed sleeping time with my craft.  I guess no one bothered to tell my imagination that it was on vacation, too.

After finishing book two, I decided I needed to get serious with promoting the series in hopes that they will be published.  Hence, the new website.  The other was okay, but this one will hopefully be more flexible so I can shape it to be as great as the books.

I'm going to take this opportunity to give a big thanks to everyone who has supported me up to this point.  The feedback, both positive and negative, has been appreciated.  I love that I have a great group of friends and family that I get to bounce my ideas off of and rant/complain about my triumphs and frustrations.

This series is truly a labor of love.  The characters are very dear to me and I'm very happy that they've impacted other people, as well.

I hope this is the first of many cheesy thank you's I get to give.  You'll all be called out in my acknowledgements when the book goes to print.