I’ve wanted to write a book since before I could even write. I remember being so jealous of my older sister when she started Kindergarten because she could read and write and I couldn’t. I vowed at four-years-old to learn how to write and to be really good at it. When I was five and learned how to write, I wrote my first story called Mystery Bob. I’ve loved writing since then, but never attempted a book until the age of 31.
After graduating high school, I enrolled in college, got married and started having kids as early as age 20. I had originally majored in journalism, but switched my major to social work so I could graduate sooner and find a job that could help with the bills.
But my first book didn’t happen until I was 31. My middle child had nightly rehearsals for a community theater play and I would sit in the auditorium and browse YouTube. I became addicted to slam poetry videos and watched them for days. At one point, I was in the mood to read a novel and since slam poetry was on my brain, I tried to find one that centered around a slam poet. When I couldn’t find one, I started writing one.
I became obsessed with the story of Lake and Will and worked on the book day and night until it was finished.
I wanted my grandmother to be able to read it on her new kindle, so I researched ways I could transfer the word document to a kindle. That’s when I came across Amazon’s self-publishing platform. I uploaded the document and half an hour later, the story I wrote was for sale on Amazon.
I never tried to get it published before that because I didn’t know the first thing about publishing. But once people started downloading it, word started spreading. Within a matter of a few months, word of mouth got the book to #5 on the New York Times.
After that, I found an agent and began receiving offers from publishers. I chose to go with Atria Books, a division of Simon & Schuster. Since then, I’ve signed several more deals with Atria Books because I love them so much. I’ve also released a novel and a few novellas as an indie author.