How I became an Author

Many of you know that I am the author of Broken Earth. So I've decided to post today about why and how I came to be an author.

                 When I was about 11 years old times were tough, I have 2 brothers and 2 sisters and 2 very dedicated parents who would do what they had to to get the bills paid, the work done, and keep food on the table. My father started refinishing furniture and our Sundays were spent selling antiques at the local flea market. This is where I found my favorite comic book vendor (God rest his soul). I knew my parents did not have the money to fund a comic book collection for their daughter. In a passing conversation when I went to walk around with my Dad someone who was a friend of his and ran one of the snack bars suggested I run and get coffee and food for the people that were working at the flea market. They gave me a pretty black tray a notepad and a pen and I was off.
                 My first day I made 5.00 in tips. When you're 11 that is a lot of money! I ran right to the comic book stand by way of the ice cream stand. With 2.50 in hand I bought 10 comic books for 25 cents a piece. They were all Tales from The Crypt, Boris Karloff, and even older books but all were the horror genre. I was hooked!
                 Every week I worked hard for tips so I could buy the things I wanted (mostly comic books). Then my cousin Dan introduced me to the world of Elfquest, by Wendy and Richard Pini. (Who one day I hope to meet.)

                 For those who don't know what Elfquest is, it's an adventure tale about the Wolfriders who are elves that have bonded with wolves and they survive in a gorgeous forest. The main characters are Cutter and Skywise who look for a new place for their family to live after their forest home is burned. The story just blooms from there. You can actually read them online right here:

http://www.elfquest.com/

              Every week I worked my butt off to get my Elfquesst Comic books, and even saved to buy the graphic novels which compiled ALL of the books. The are dog eared water stained pieces of my childhood that are falling apart with love and wear from all the reading I did of this series. I would draw the characters and write stories spinning off in the world of Two Moons, the characters became a part of my life and really opened the world of imagination to me.   My dear friend Bill Link, (RIP) introduced me to the superhuman world of Superman and to the world of the Hulk who I was terrified of from a young age, so I branched out to also collect the Teen Titans, Batman, Robin, Superman, and many more. Bill and I would talk for hours by phone about the latest and greatest comic books coming out.

           When my husband and I moved I had to liquidate much of my collection, but i kept the teen Titans and Elfquest comics. That shows you how long I collected for, I found a great store in our little town with awesome prices,(Thank you BILL) a hole in the wall at best but it fueled my fire.

            I knew from the first moment I read a comic book that I wanted to write stories. I have hundreds of notebooks in my basement that I have kept throughout the years of fanfictions I wrote, some are even published online at fanfiction.net. Writing became my obsession, my escape, my home. And I have never looked back.

https://www.fanfiction.net/u/389942/

            As the years passed I knew I wanted to do my own stuff, I just didn't know how. I learned quite a bit writing my first book Broken Earth.  I wanted to write a world where people could escape to for just a little while. My dream came true this year with Broken Earth.

One of my oldest friends the gorgeous and talented Doreen Taylor wrote a song called Judgement Day. The day I heard that song, I had the dream that became the world of Broken Earth.

My daughter Doreen and I

This is the link to the song that created the dream: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQsAV93ENyM

From then on, I've been supported by amazing friends like Becki Brannen, JK Accinni, Christy Sloat, Tracee Ford, Candice, Kellie, Joyce, Leah, Julie, Heather, Raebeth Buda, Jamie Gibson, Jake Bonsignore, Sarah Sprinklepants, my mom in law Judy and so many many more to keep writing and to keep creating. I'll be revealing my next cover in the next few months with the help of Sprinkles on Top Studios.

https://www.facebook.com/SprinklesOnTopStudios

My love of reading these comic books sparked a love of reading that has grown into a full blown fire over many years, so I want to thank the Pini's for creating the series that changed my life.