I have to admit that I was one of those people who never thought they would get married, and who always saw the glass as half empty. That was until my last class in college when I met my husband, and became a believer in Love At First Sight! Of course, in true English Teacher fashion, of which we both were, we wrote letters for almost 11 months before even going out on our first date.
From there, life became a whirlwind of getting married and seven months later finding myself a few weeks pregnant and on bed rest. This was the first of two high risk pregnancies in two years that left me with two miracles, over eight pound preemies, and battling diabetes and depression among other things. My road to healing was long, and varied, but during that time I was blessed to stay home with my sons.
At our ten year anniversary, my husband and I read those letter we sent each other after college, and I had written a lot about my writing. He encouraged me to get back into it. Then he went on a trip to Israel, and I was not sleeping well. At the time, my husband had given me a book of writing exercises to spark creativity, and one of the exercises was to write in a genre you were not comfortable with. I had been poking around on the internet looking at different publishing houses. I read a call for an erotic short story series called Celtic Love Knots. Wicca had always fascinated me, so I started to research it. Long story getting shorter, the two stories I wrote for that series both got contracted. Now my days are getting my kids off to school, writing, after-school activities, dinner, and I sit with my laptop in the living room at night when the kids are calming down before bed to do promotional stuff. There are the occasional nights where I am completely absorbed with a story, and stay up most of the night writing.
My stories come to me in different ways. For example, sometimes research of something I have read inspires the plot, like with The Healing Spell. With that story, I had read about sex powering spell, in particular spells to enhance creativity. Another way I come up with plots is when I hear about something that bothers me, and I find it cathartic to write a story with a similar situation and then a happy ending. With Rituals, I had heard a story about a woman who was mentally and otherwise abused, and just could not get the pain and fear and consequences of it out of my head. So, I found a Wiccan ritual that cuts energy ties to a person after a bad relationship ends, and I created a situation where I could give the abused woman hope.
Other times my writing is just an escape, pure fun, where I can let my imagination run wild. Like with The Witch’s Beast. This novella is a Torrid Twisted Fairy Tale, a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, told entirely from the witch’s point of view. It was written more to settle a score with the Grimm Brothers because even as a kid, I did not think it fair that the witch that started it all only got one line in the tale. In letting my wild imagination run free, which for me being oversensitive to others emotions, I need as I have a hard time dealing with the realities of life and watching the effects they have on my children, I have now written stories of various lengths about vampires, demons, witches, ghosts and shape shifters.
Why do I believe that if I can, anyone can obtain their dreams? During my depression, I read a lot of self-help books, studied quantum physics and even became a certified Feng Shui practitioner. In all of my desperate searching, I found that I held the power to obtain them, to keep trying no matter what and not give up. I am a big fan of Wayne W Dyer, and would recommend his books to anyone struggling with anything, life, stress, disease… I truly believe these quotes,
“The most influential person who will talk to you all day is you, so you should be very careful about what you say to you!†-Zig Ziglar
“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.†-Robert Louis Stevenson
and
“A destiny unfulfilled is an affront against the universe.” Anonymous Greek Philosopher
Thanks so much for having me!
Thanks so much for sharing this! It’s very inspiring, optimistic, and honest! Beautiful quotes, too!
Thanks Caity! I’m glad. Your comment has made me smile this morning!
Kiki
Awesome thanks Kiki
Wow, so inspiring! Those quote have especially driven me towards thinking more positively about my goals. This entire story makes me rethink my anxious approach to, basically, every aspect of my life. Thanks so much for sharing. :)
It still amazes me when I can inspire someone! I am so happy that in sharing my story I can do so.
If anyone is interested in a chance to win a free ebook, I am holding a Get To Know Me Contest through Friday. You can see how to gain entries at http://paranormalists.blogspot.com/2010/04/get-to-know-author-kiki-howell-contest.html There is also a link there to be able to read a tiny story I wrote that won 1st prize last month in a flash fiction contest.
Have A Great Evening!
Kiki
Can I be you when I grow up? I find this fascinating … I can only dream to one day be a published author. I have no idea where to start and everything I google winds up with stuff to buy videos or buy ezines or something to tell me how to become published. I just a legitimate method of learning how to become published.
Huge congratulations on chasing your dream!
Inspiring! Thank you for the guest post!
My pleasure, Kathy!
And, to Creative Junkie, here is my tip. Google “submission guidelines” along with the genre you want to write in. Look at the publishers who come up. Lots of small presses have some pretty specific themed calls out, or even tell you the type of story they are looking for. Let these inspire to write a story specifically for one of them. It is a great place to start. Of course, this comes with a word of caution also. Check sites like http://pred-ed.com/ or google the publishers name along with “absolute write” (these are forums where authors discuss publisher experiences.) This way you will find out if the publisher is legit, or how they are to work with, etc first. Hope that helps!
Your comment about writing letters for months before the first date made me think of when my husband and I were dating. We DID date for 11 months – then he got stationed on the other side of the world from me (we were both in the military at the time.)
So letters and old-fashioned-cassette tapes (I realize I’m dating myself here) were how we communicated. There’s a lot you can say in a letter that can’t really be said another way.
You are right Diana. It was like we got to really know each other, on a different level of intimacy, even before our first date. To this day, almost 15 years later, (there, I dated myself too, and my husband sent me a few cassette tapes as well when we were dating) he is still my best friend, the only one in this world that I share everything with, every thought, good or bad or crazy. He is the first one I want to share my good news with, and the first one I need when the news is bad.
Just last night, we were up for probably another hour, just talking and laughing. Maybe we would have been that way anyway, but it really set us up for communication.
Thank you for commenting, and bless you both for serving.
Kiki
congrats. I found this really interesting =)
This is very interesting! Thanks for all the info. I’m so inspired!
[...] couple of days ago I had a guest poster here on JJ.Me and she wrote a very good post for you all to read. She herself is an accomplished writer and it got me thinking about my own [...]
My Journey to Motherhood, to Published Author, and Why I Believe Anyone Can Make Their Dreams Come True…
I have to admit that I was one of those people who never thought they would get married, and who always saw the glass as half empty. That was until my last class in college when I met my husband, and became a believer in Love At First Sight! Of course,…
Thanks — Now, I believe I can realize my dream. :mrgreen: