Me and Patrick the Starfish on the Edge of a cliff

I was looking at my activity on social media the other day and I realized it must look like I’ve fallen a cliff. It's true, most of the time I am just holding onto the edge for dear life, but at the same time I've managed to keep on writing. Here is what I have been up to.

In the last few weeks I completed a manuscript of about 74000 words. A YA contemporary about twin sisters who are best friends until they hit high school and the social chasm between them grows. Then in a tragic turn of events, Jesse is given the chance to live her sister’s life…and that is where the story starts to get interesting.  If you’ve ever thought someone else’s life looked better than yours, you’ll connect with these characters. I’ll be posting excerpts soon and hope to put this book in your hands before too long!

Also, the screenplay for Shackled was completed and is now sent out into the world. I can’t give you too many details except to let you know that the screenplay writer did an amazing job keeping the essence of this Lucy and Ryan’s story and I know it will be an awesome TV movie once produce.  As soon as I can, I’ll let you know more.

Finally, I’ve started two new projects. One is a sequel to Unbreakable Love. Jennie’s little sister Kate is all grown up and a junior in high school, but she doesn’t get a guardian angel. This time, it is her future husband who needs a little extra help. Not to give too much away but I’ll just throw the word crazy love triangle out there. As expected, there will be both men and angels worth swooning over. Need I say more?

Finally, I’m outlining and starting to write my first trilogy. I’m so super excited because this story is different than anything else I’ve ever written. It is futuristic, and complex and everyone lives in houses hooked to tracks.  This story haunts me and I just can’t wait to get out of my head onto paper.

Well, there it is…my crazy little writing world. Thanks for stopping by for the 411J   

An Unplanned Sequel Immerges

Some of you know the story of how my first published book, Unbreakable Love came into being, for those of you who don’t here’s a quick synopsis.

My son Kyler was placed in a class exclusively for gifted kids. Yeah, he’s smart. He gets that from his dad! The thing is, he also has a processing disability. This meant that he was in a classroom with a bunch of burgeoning rocket scientists, most of which do not have a disability. One day, as we worked on a project together, he told me, “This is so hard. You’ve never done anything this hard,” Yeah Right!! But then I realized he didn't see me go to college or do a lot of hard things. Thinking about how you always respect the PE coach that plays with you instead of yelling at you from the sidelines, I proposed a radical idea. I would do something really hard along side of him. I would write a complete novel and send it out to publishers.  If someone was crazy enough to publish my work, then so be it.  So I did. As Kyler whittled away in his crazy hard class, I wrote for an hour each night to finish what is now Unbreakable Love.

The good news…Kyler and both survived.  Now, I have two published books, Shackled and Unbreakable Love and another one called Beautiful Deception that is complete and I’m trying to decide how to go about publishing it. Next post, I’ll post some teasersJ

So what next, you might ask?  I’m so excited to announce that I’ve begun work on a sequel to Unbreakable Love. Yep, my sweet, romantic first novel will soon have a follow up. If you haven’t read Unbreakable Love, go get itJ It’s a feel good story and it’s only 2.99 on kindle!

As for the sequel, you’ll be seeing Kate again except all grown up this time and no she won’t be the one with a guardian angel. This time, it’s her husband to be that caught the attention of the heavens.  I can’t wait to write it. I can’t wait to share it with you.  Thanks for stopping by today. You are the best.

The Scars We Wear

This week, I’ve had an interesting experience. Out of the blue, my arms and back broke out in this painful swollen rash. I was in so much pain that I couldn’t sleep or get dressed, or breathe, so I went to the ER on Friday. By then, my  arms looked like something out of a zombie movie. GROSS!! At the hospital they put me on steroids and ohhh, the relief. Now my arms look a little less hideous and the lion’s share of the pain is gone, but the doctor tells me, that like a burn my skin is damaged and it will take time to heal. I may even have permanent scars. 

This got me thinking about the scars we were wear, some on the inside and some on the outside….and scars are relatable to all of us.  Some of our most beloved stories deal with deformities or abnormalities on the outside, such as Beauty and the Beast or how about Cyrano de Bergerac (you know the guy with beautiful words and hideously long nose).  Even more often, stories deal with the scars on the inside, the one’s no one sees but are just as real and affect us profoundly. For example, the characters of Les Miserable dealt with the scarring of their past choices.  And what about all those broken hearts we see in movies. Katniss, the little girl forced to grow up with no father and a useless mother and Gale not able to have the one he loves. We all relate to the scars left by a broken heart, at least in some small way.

So, as I sat in the emergency room, I had a thought. Maybe the emotional and physical scars left behind are more battle wounds then terrible disfiguring scars. Maybe they show what we have survived, not just that we’ve suffered. In many ways, scars are trophies, physical reminders of our resilience as human beings. 

Not that I love that my arms and back are red and peeling like a patchwork quilt of skin, but I find some comfort knowing that my scars, both inside and out connect me in common ground with my fellow man. So maybe next time, you survive something that leaves you feeling beat up and disfigured, you’ll see your healing wounds as an affirmation that you are a survivor and you’ll also know, you’re not alone.