Family Members Who Supported and Influenced Me as a Writer #IWSG #Writers

  

 

The first Wednesday of every month is officially 

Insecure Writer's Support Group day.

The Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It's a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

IWSG Asks: Is there someone who supported or influenced you that perhaps isn't around anymore? Anyone you miss?

My mother was an avid reader. She always carried a book with her everywhere she went. She greatly influenced my love of reading. 

My mom, Patty, and me.

When I was little, about 8 or 9, I told her about a re-occurring dream I had at night. It was a strange dream involving zombies. Yes, even as a little girl, I was apparently obsessed with the supernatural! lol I gave her such vivid detail of the dream that she said I should write about my dream in a journal. She suggested that maybe, one day, I could turn the dream into a story and write it.

Her suggestion inspired me to create a dream journal where each morning, I'd write as much detail as I could remember from my dreams during the night. I still do this. From several of these dream journals, I've come up with many of my stories.

My mom passed away from leukemia when I was 11 years old, so she never got to see how her suggestion that day had impacted my life. Later, during my late teens when I already knew I wanted to become a published author one day, I stumbled across some of my mother's notebooks. Flipping through them, I found several pages of short stories and story ideas she had written. Apparently, she'd been interested in writing stories, too.

Finding those notebooks and discovering that my mom had dabbled in writing romance fiction made me feel closer to her. It was a bond we shared. Our shared love for writing and reading romance.

Apparently, I am my mother's daughter! 

I miss her, more than anything, and I hope she'd be proud to know that I've pursued my dreams of becoming published and succeeded, as well as becoming a USA Today Bestselling author.

My grandmother, Pat, with me and my daughter.

And while my mother was the one who inspired me to write, my grandmother was the one who supported and encouraged me to continue making my dreams a reality. My grandmother believed I would succeed. She believed in my talent, strength and imagination. There was no doubt in her mind that I would get where I wanted to go with my career one day. Thankfully, she saw my first few books published, but passed away before I became a bestselling author.

I hope she and my mom are watching. I still have many plans. I have further to go in my career, more books to write, more goals to accomplish. Even though they're gone, I still feel like they're supporting me from the other side, and I hope I'm making them proud.

Happy writing!

~ Tricia 

Be sure to visit the other writers in the 

Insecure Writer's Support Group!

I write sensual paranormal, sci-fi and historical romances. Interested in learning more about my stories? Become a VIP Reader by signing-up for my newsletter where you'll learn about my new book releases, updates on my works-in-progress, writing tips, book reviews, contests, and other fun book-related info!

You can Follow me on ...

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Looking for a little escape? Check out these books!

 Alpha Shifters Furever               Shifting Hearts

Can I Quit Writing? #IWSG #writers #writinglife

The first Wednesday of every month is officially 

Insecure Writer's Support Group day.

The Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It's a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

IWSG Asks: What would make you quit writing?

I've tried quitting. It didn't stick.

There are several... several times in the last 20 years when I considered quitting. I work for hours and hours on my manuscripts. And then hours more on marketing, advertising, networking, social media, all the other things besides writing that go into a writing career. Add to that, I'm constantly learning, studying, discovering new tips and tricks to try with writing. Workshops, courses, lessons and how-to books. It is a continuous pursuit of knowledge and one I fear I will never master.

I remember buying groceries at the store when my sons were toddlers. I stood watching the sales clerk ring up my order and thought,  "She's a teenager and is making more money than me. In 1 hour, she makes more money than I do in a full 40 hours of writing."

It was a depressing thought. All the work, the hours of my life that I spend on words that possibly no one will ever read... I couldn't even afford to buy myself a cup of coffee.

On the way home, I told myself I was done.

I quit.

I needed to wake up. Grow up. Stop dreaming. I was a mom now. I needed to be more responsible. I had kids to provide for. I needed to get a real job.

Tomorrow, I was going to fill out an application at the grocery store. Get a job that paid money. I needed money. I had bills to pay, kids to feed, a mortgage.

Writing was clearly not the way to achieve any of that.

And then I thought of the many hours of my life that I spent on learning the craft of writing. The money I spent to go to workshops and conferences. How much knowledge I had gained from that moment when I was 18 and had decided that becoming an author was my choice of career to that moment when I was sitting in my car contemplating quitting.

I've come so far.

It would be a waste of my life if I gave up now. All those years I invested...

What if it took just one more book?

The next book could be my hit. It could be all that sits between me and financial freedom. The one that will help me succeed and accomplish my goals.

Could I take that chance? If I quit, I'd never know.

It took me about a week of not writing before another story idea presented itself, another opportunity to write a book that might touch some reader's heart. That urge to write brought me out of my early writing retirement.

What if Nora Roberts had given up? What about Stephen King? JK Rowling??

Many people know about their success stories. What if they decided writing was too hard and gave up 

We'd never have those beautiful stories to share.

I don't know if I'll ever attain the success of those mega-writing stars, but if there's one person who looks forward to reading my books, my biggest fan who automatically buys everything I publish, some stranger whom I may never meet, then I owe it to that person to keep writing. My writing might change someone's life someday. Touch someone is some life-altering way.

My writing might change my life, too! It might be my life that is changed in some life-altering way.

What would make me quit writing? Nothing. In fact, my thoughts move more along the lines of how can I keep writing when life becomes difficult?

I suffer from depression and anxiety. Writer's block hits. I do my best to prepare myself for those days to help me work through it.

What if I get carpal tunnel or arthritis in my fingers so bad I can't type? Well, then I'll buy dictating software and write while speaking aloud.

What if I go blind? Then I'll buy a brail keyboard.

What if the zombie apocalypse hits? I'll search through broken and abandoned houses until I find pen and paper.

What if aliens abduct me? I'll entertain them with the stories that pop into my brain while they probe me.

Okay, so clearly, I take the what if game too far. But, even if I won a million $$ lottery jackpot, I'd keep writing. Even if I never made another penny from my stories, I'll still continue to write them.

It's a part of me now. 

Writing is like breathing.

Even when I try to quit, that writing part of my brain nags at me until I get back to it.

So, I quit fighting it.

Happy writing!

~ Tricia 

Be sure to visit the other writers in the 

Insecure Writer's Support Group!

I write sensual paranormal and historical romances. Interested in learning more about my stories? Become a VIP Reader by signing-up for my newsletter where you'll learn about my new book releases, updates on my works-in-progress, writing tips, book reviews, contests, and other fun book-related info!

You can Follow me on ...

BookBub | Amazon | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest | Instagram

Looking for a little escape? Check out these books!

 Alien Embrace               In Love with an Alien

Write the Story Until It's Done! #writingadvice #wordcount #IWSG

The first Wednesday of every month is officially 

Insecure Writer's Support Group day.

The Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It's a safe have for insecure writers of all kinds!

IWSG Asks: Quote: "Although I have written a short story collection, the form found me and not the other way around. Don't write short stories, novels or poems. Just write your truth and your stories will mold into the shapes they need to be." 

Have you ever written a piece that became a form, or even a genre, you hadn't planned on writing in? Or do you choose a form/genre in advance?

 

This is an excellent question and one I struggle to find the answer to years ago.

When I first began writing, I wrote stories to fit the guidelines of the New York Big Book Publishers. Most of the guidelines for romances were around 70k - 80k words (if I remember correctly). There were some exceptions, but definitely none below 50k words.  

At that time, 50k - 80k felt like huge tomes for me to write. I'd been writing short stories just for fun and stretching a story to fit those kinds of word counts felt intimidating. Not to mention, with my busy life and work schedule, it would take me years to finish a full-length novel. 

I did it. And it did take years!

But then something strange happened. E-books became a thing. And with them came more variety with lengths and heat levels.

Suddenly, I wasn't grappling with how to stretch a story to fit such lengthy categories, now I was writing the story that felt right to me.

Some stories don't need to be told in epic lengths. Sometimes, 10k is enough. There's flash fiction that can be told in a hundred words! 

To me, the word counts don't matter and your story shouldn't be shoved to fit inside a box that it wasn't meant for. Write your stories until they're done.

That's it.

When your characters are finished telling their stories, then you know your job as a writer is done. Word counts, page lengths... None of that matters. 

The story matters.

Don't worry about not finding an audience for your work. Some readers like longer novels. Some readers just want a short story. I'm a former Waldenbooks bookseller, trust me, I know there is a reader for everything out there!

Strangely enough, 20 years later, the short story and novella-sized stories that I wrote so easily when I was starting out are now lengthening. My stories are growing with complexity and depth which make them longer to write. 

I joined an alien abduction romance boxed set, Stolen and Seduced, with a 5k - 20k word count limit. My personal goal was 10k, but the story took off and settled into a little over 20k. Thankfully, the co-ordinator is flexible with word counts.

I hadn't planned on writing a longer short story (I even outlined... a bit.). But at 10k, the characters weren't finished telling their story, so I simply followed along. 

As it stands, these characters touched me so much with their story, that I have a series planned now because of them. Those stories will probably be longer than 20k, but that's okay. It needs to be done.

As I said, my advice to writers is to write until the story is done. Don't worry about the word count. There's a reader out there for everything.

Be safe! Stay healthy! And keep writing!

~ Tricia 

Be sure to visit the other writers in the 

Insecure Writer's Support Group!

I write sensual paranormal and historical romances. Interested in learning more about my stories? Become a VIP Reader by signing-up for my newsletter where you'll learn about my new book releases, updates on my works-in-progress, writing tips, book reviews, contests, and other fun book-related info!

You can Follow me on ...

BookBub | Amazon | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest | Instagram

Need a little escape? Check out these books!

   

Where I've Been and Where You Can Find Me #AuthorUpdate

The last several months have been busy for this intrepid writer. But, not with writing related activities. I've taken a break from my hectic writing schedule to tend to my family. This winter has been hard on us. Every week for the last few months I've had at least one child out of four to see the doctor. We've had a wide range of illness this year including the flu, strep throat, bronchitis, croup, and several nasty ear infections to name a few. We've also had our share of injuries. My 2 year-old tripped and fell, biting almost clean through his bottom lip. My 6 year-old got a paper cut on her eyeball! Yes, on her eyeball! And my 11 year-old has developed an enormous chip on his shoulder that I believe might need to be surgically removed. More likely, I'll need to wait it out, but I dread the approaching teen years with this kid!

As Spring blossoms in the air, the children are finished with sick days and back in school struggling to stay focused as the end of the school year approaches. And as much as I looked forward to Spring, I realize that my schedule hasn't gotten quite back on track, yet. Now, my 9 year-old has baseball practices and games nearly every night of the week. There's also Cub Scout and Boy Scout meetings for the boys, with the additional Committee meetings of which I am a member. The kids also have music and art lessons. Camping trips and bowling lessons. And homework! There is an immense amount of homework each night! I feel like I've gone back to school trying to relearn math to help my kids understand it. 

Add to that a bad case of Spring allergies! I'm sneezing my way through edits as we speak.

Never fear! I am nothing if not stubborn. I haven't given up, even if it might seem that I disappear from time to time. I eventually pop back up. Right now, I'm struggling to catch up with edits and emails. Not to mention a host of new calls for submission that have come to my attention which are brewing new story ideas in my brain that I'm eager to write. My toddler is fighting naptimes, now. This is a new development, but I'm hoping it's just a phase. I've tried explaining to him that naptimes are my writing times, but he's not impressed. Instead, he smiles and laughs, then points at the television and says, "Doctor Who."

With that being said, where can you find me these days?

 

I'm still checking in at my old haunts at Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads. Pinterest has helped keep me sane this winter with some great ideas for knitting and crocheting crafts while I sat with my sick kids during those days we binged on Supernatural. I'm planning to post some of my completed craft projects soon. I'm roasting marshmallows with the campers at Camp Nano to complete a short story for a possible anthology. I've joined Reading Alley where my new book, The Pirate's Lady, is available for review. Other than that, you can subscribe to my newsletter to keep updated with my new projects, contests and events. And, of course, I'll be posting more on my blog again, so I hope to see you here, too!

                                    

I write sensual paranormal and historical romances. Interested in learning more about my stories? Sign-up for my newsletter where you'll learn about my new book releases, updates on my works-in-progress, writing tips, book reviews, contests, and other fun book-related info!

Here's wishing all is well with you!

Happy Spring!

Tricia