I grew up in a very small town in Maine, then moved to New Orleans at first opportunity to broaden my horizons! I graduated Magna Cum Laude from Loyola University New Orleans with a double major in Writing and Sociology, but ironically thrived in a management/accounting position for several years until life brought me to the Northeast.
At age 19 (during a brief hiatus from college) I wrote a very formulaic romance that wasn’t great, but was finished. That amateur attempt at a first novel was really the extent of my professional writing career until the idea for “Solid” hit me like a virus I couldn’t fight off; its hold on me not just the intriguing concept, but also my concern for reluctant readers. So many kids (myself included) reach an age when they get so overwhelmed by required school reading that they are in danger of losing the love for reading entirely. My new concept was also the perfect premise for a fun, fast read that could engage even non-readers, so I had to develop it. “Solid” was my chance to write the story that I wish someone had written for me at that age.
Before I knew it, one book snowballed into three, and what began as a “project” blew up into a self-publishing endeavor that has been difficult, but empowering. I initially thought I’d be better off going the traditional-publishing route, but now I realize I may have been pushed in this direction for a reason. In what has become a very DIY world, self-publishing now looks to be the way of the future. It’s a natural evolution of the American philosophy really – make things happen for yourself; build your own dream. For me, that looks like two more independent novels after the conclusion of this series (Book #3 – “Sound” – is the final installment of the “Solid” trilogy and is scheduled for release in July, 2012). Unless one (or both) of those books runs away with me as well!
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