My current novel “A Woman Of Courage” was actually written about four or five years ago. My style of writing has long since changed. I originally did not plan to publish this book or any other book that I’ve written. I made the decision on a whim to self publish this book just to get my foot in the door of becoming a professional writer. Until now, no one had ever read my work because I did not want my work read. I didn’t think people would get what I was trying to say. My ideas are sometimes unusual and I tend to think out of the box but so do many of the greatest writers that ever lived. I always try to choose ideas that no one else would write. Even if it has been done before and lets face it, everything has been done before. I always try to put my own spin on things.

Some people may have a problem with the fact that Ashley fell in love with someone that accidentally killed her son. But Remember that what happened was indeed an accident. You also cannot help who you fall in love with or control the circumstances of how you meet someone. I like to write about real people and if I had written Ashley as someone who did everything right and never made any mistakes, then she would be a boring and unrealistic character.

Now that I am older it is getting more difficult for me to come up with new ideas so I really have to rely on inspiration from other books, or films, and sometimes even a song can generate an idea for a story. You never know where an idea may spring up and no matter where it came from, all that matters is that it works for you. I feel that nothing is truly bad as far as artistic expression. Because everyone has their own opinion and their own feelings about what they like and don’t like. You may write a book that fifteen people hate but three people may say it’s the greatest thing they ever read. It’s just a matter of personal opinion. People aren’t going to love everything you do. I love Stephen King’s work but I don’t like every book he’s written. But that’s just me. His ideas are pretty incredible though. Some of my favorites are Salem’s Lot, Misery, IT, and The Shining. Carrie scared the crap out of me but it was great.

Ideas are really good when they come from things that happened to you in your past. People you had as friends or even relatives. My new book Spirit Walk is about a young girl who had an abusive father and what transpires when his spirit winds up coming back to make her life a living hell. I drew from my own experience for that. My father is nowhere near as bad as the father of the girl in this book, but we have always had a stormy relationship and it did inspire the character a little. I also drew from other people’s experiences of abuse and witnessing it in their own families. It is unfortunately a very common problem in a lot of people’s lives that needs to be addressed. My new ideas have been a lot darker than my previous work. I mostly enjoy writing fantasy, horror and paranormal. I also have a bunch of children’s stories that I would like to publish next year but don’t worry, Nothing scary for the kiddies. A little weird at times, but scary no. I’m a mother so no way. Until next time….