Why I Became a Writer

I've always enjoyed reading as long as I can remember. I've read fiction, non-fiction, how-to-do books and so forth. I've always enjoyed fiction, especially the Star Wars Expanded Universe series (Now called Legends since Disney bought Star Wars). For me, they will always be canon as there were some really great stories told that continued the Star Wars saga beyond "Return of the Jedi". There were a handful of stories that were written in between the three original trilogies that I enjoyed as well. For me though, my go-to is fantasy, especially with a medieval flavor. Currently, I'm reading the Shannara series by Terry Brooks and the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas.

I started having aspirations to write in my thirties. I dabbled in poetry but quickly realized that was not for me. I decided I wanted to write a novel. I just wasn't sure what kind I wanted to write. I spent a few years thinking up ideas, but just wasn't satisfied with where the story was going so I would move on to different ideas. Plus, life was happening and with a job that required me to be on call 24/7, it was just difficult to concentrate on writing. In 2018, an idea came to me in a dream. When I woke up, I scribbled down what I could remember from that dream. I came up with the characters and it was almost like they wrote their own bios. I then started giving them a purpose and before long, the scribble on a piece of paper was turning into something that I had wanted to do for the longest time.

Once I had finished the story, I heard an ad on the radio about a publishing company that accepted manuscripts from first-time authors. It took me several minutes for me to press "Enter" on my keyboard to send it in. I could see it in my mind that my story would be flat-out rejected. I had read so many articles where it takes years to get something published and to accept that your writing just might not be very good at all. When I received a phone call from the publisher, I was fully expecting "You have an interesting idea, BUT". Instead, the person on the other end of the phone said my manuscript had been accepted! This was in July of 2021. Needless to say, I was on a natural high from that point and I don't think my head has come down from the clouds yet! My book was officially finished and placed for sale on February 22, 2022. That date is bittersweet for me. Around that date in 1992 is when I lost my best friend of 13 years, a black Shephard/Lab mix named Misty. In a way though, this book will help keep her memory alive.

I am working on a sequel and this one will be longer. I have so many ideas for this series and once I get past the initial marketing push for "Magic Reborn", I will concentrate fully on writing the follow-up. I can't thank everyone enough who supports this crazy dream of mine, and I hope if you come across this humble site, you'll consider joining me on Raven's adventures.