About the Author -- Beginnings, Philosophies, and Raising Kids

For those of me who know me in real life, you are aware that I am a homeschooling stay-at-home mom with three kids. Obviously, not having a real job and keeping my own children around me, 24/7, while doing the whole homeschooling three different grades thing, chore thing, and marriage thing means I have tons of spare time on my hands. We all know that stay-at-home moms roll out of bed late, only to do whatever they want all day, while wearing yoga pants, drinking coffee, and shopping on Amazon constantly, letting our kids run wild, doing whatever they want since we're not at all qualified to teach. Everything else takes care of itself, right?

Oh, don't you love fiction? Actually, I don't ever get to drink coffee while it's hot or fresh...or even get to make it, for that matter. My days usually start before I can even get my feet on the floor. 

So how in the frick did I ever manage to write all of these books? 

Honestly, I don't know. I write when I can. Half of my novels were already written before I had kids. The other half, after. I don't always get long periods to write, but it can be done however, I can always tell in my rough drafts and proof copies where I've been interrupted by the kids and the dogs or the cats while I was writing or editing. 

To tell the truth, I often have to either wake up really early or stay up really late to get it done, but even so, that is no guarantee as the kids will either get up really early with me which is how my days always start, or stay up really late, becoming the world's most inquisitive philosophers, pondering the meaning of life with amazing questions that I have no immediate answer to, as well as becoming the hungriest, most dehydrated little people on the face of this planet. In fact, as I write this, after a full day with them, one is sitting at my side, showing me how they can count to a million, one number at a time.  (198, 199, 200, 201, 202, um 200 and three..)

But the point is, since writing is a necessity to me, I try to write something every single day. Whether or not I write anything good, that's yet to be seen. There are days when it's feast or famine. There are days when all I do is write by hand, focusing on my handwriting as I perfect my ABCs as if it were a 1st grade penmanship book, while other days it's like a flood of a story that won't shut off. When it's a flood, I write, every spare second that's not devoted to education, cooking, or keeping peace, I'm writing because that laundry will still be there in the morning. I choose my battles. When there's a block, I'll write a paragraph or a sentence and then get other things done so that it balances out when I am writing. Those are the days my husband loves because the house is clean, the chores are done, and dinner is figured out all before he comes home from work. 

But still, how and why? For a lot of people, and first hand knowledge from my kids and other young people I know, writing isn't the funnest thing in the world to do. My kids loathe writing. They like the idea of reading, but they don't love reading. They are addicted to Gary Paulson books on Audible and basic non-fiction books in physical form. They'll talk your ear off about science, animals, dinosaurs, history, and bushcraft as well as odd trivia they find places. They couldn't care less about grammar, proper punctuation, spelling or their penmanship, even though it's part of daily lessons. Writing a paragraph is torture and they'd rather clean the toilet, the cat litter box, and any dog throw up that happens PLUS clean their room than to write sentences. And to have to read what current curriculum wants them to read? Good luck with that (Oh, just wait until they meet the high school English classics!) 

OK. I get it. I was their age once, too. I completely understand. There are better things to do. Funner things to do. And what kind of weird person do you have to be to love to write?

Well, way back in my younger years, in the 4th grade, our teacher, Mrs. Dunn, went out on maternity leave and we had a substitute teacher who was working on getting his credentials. He taught us basic sign language, as he worked with the deaf before, and then he had us work on a creative writing assignment. He brought out a book by Chris Van Allsburg called "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick."  He read the book to us, showed us the photos, and then he had us choose an illustration from the book. We had to write a story about the illustration, and then somewhere in the story, use the sentence that was provided about the illustration in the book. That book got me hooked on writing. We were fortunate enough to have Mr. McCaffery come back as our 6th grade teacher and we had the same assignment. This time, being a 6th grader, I wrote a story about every single illustration. Needless to say, as an adult, I bought that book to use with my own kids before they were even born. 

One day, my kids may discover the joy of writing, as they all have a thirst for knowledge and for learning. But maybe they won't. I can accept writing is not for everyone. But they'll know how to research and how the feed their thirst for knowledge. But, when my day is done and everyone is powering down and off to bed, I'll keep the TV off, get out a book or a notebook, and have at it. 

As I tell them these days, they can judge just how much they really want something by this -- If they really want it, they will find a way to do it, to get it, to have it, along with the desire to work for it. If they don't, they will always find an excuse.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a wonderful day!