Hello!

I write because, as uninteresting as I find processes such as editing at times, I deeply enjoy seeing the effect my stories have on others, and, much like the poetry I used to write, it still can be therapeutic, no matter if it is from my perspective or a fictional character’s that acts as a means to express any kind of emotion and, occasionally, escape from one life into another.

What made me want to become a writer was largely influenced by the poetry I wrote in high school, which showed me how enjoyable writing is, along with several of the novel series I read and one video game I played, to finally push me from poetry to full fiction because of a strong desire to make my own compelling stories and worlds.

As far as writing goes, I believe in continuing to do what I do, naturally, and continuing to improve as I do so. I put my all into every story I write, especially on the emotional side, and I can only believe that, over time, my stories will grow in quality as I grow as a writer. I also strongly believe in the emotions any of my stories can pull out of someone else, whether it is anger because you are not happy how the story turned out, or sadness because a character you like has died, I believe in valuing all of that and taking it in, because every emotion can be important there. This too applies to how I would like to view the quality of my stories. Did you enjoy it, or did you not? What did you enjoy and what did you not? Those details are more important to me than a score out of five, ten, or one hundred if that makes sense. At times though, my strongest belief is that enjoyment is as important as having something to take away from the story, such as a lesson or theme. I do not wish to be preachy, but I find it deeply motivating and enjoyable to write stories that focus on issues I have gone through and what I took away from those experiences, including learning how to let go of the past and people, learning how to belong, or learning how to make up for what we may have done days, months, or years ago.

Essentially, all that I stated in the answer to the previous question is what makes me stay true to myself. More than that though, it is also this pursuit of writing enjoyable stories and ones that can be learned from, the desire to continue to impress and satisfy the people who support my writing efforts in life, and the wish to see if and how I can compel certain emotions in those same people or total strangers that may come across my books and experience all that I have described.

It’s too hard to pick a single topic that I enjoy writing in or about, so I would keep it as broad as possible by saying I equally enjoy both fantasy and science fiction immensely. But, at the same time, there is just as much or more enjoyment when I delve into other genres, such as mystery, thriller, horror, spiritual, etc.

Topics can be completely different from genres, so it’s important to note that there are topics which exist in many of my stories, no matter the genre, and will exist in future ones that express who I am as a person, such as the fear of losing people, the loss of loved ones, fatherly issues, isolation, mental health, and the feeling of not being at home, or welcome.

I would like for my novels to break several age barriers, but I don’t know if that’s truly achievable. I read The Millennium Trilogy and A Song of Ice and Fire when I was in high school, and my novels deal with just as much violence or gore and explicit romance. This means I wouldn’t want or ask anyone younger than fifteen or sixteen to read them, but I do hope anyone from any age beyond that can enjoy them. That is my ultimate goal.

All my characters vary in ages, whether they’re fifty to seventy, thirty to forty, or in their twenties, but, in writing, we have genres broken down by age groups that truly bother me. Young Adult and New Adult are such examples. My novels aren’t entirely focused on a kid going away to college, or someone getting their first job or home, nor will they ever be. I have characters that settle in those age groups potentially, but I despise the idea of someone or most people only being interested in books similar to their age bracket. I would like to see a high school or college kid enjoying my story of an elderly widow trying to get her husband back, and I would also like to see someone that is in the later stages of their life still able to enjoy the broad topics I focus on in a story with twenty to thirty year-olds. That is what I hope for, but, as I noted before, I do not know if it is truly possible. I do expect that there are many people out there that read stories that are all over the place in regards to age groups just as my stories are, but I also believe there are people only interested in new adult romance, a kid overcoming difficulties in high school, or even a mother or father watching their kids go away to college.

It’s only been a few years, and I’m finding it harder and harder to remember the exact order and times of when I started writing and when I decided I wanted it to be a career. The easiest answer might be October of 2015, when I was seventeen and in my senior year of high school. I had just finished playing through The Witcher 3 entirely for the second time, and I felt so inspired by that and the portfolio I was working on in Art IV AP, where my focus was on developing a fantasy story through a series of images, which I eventually thought so much about that I built my own world for those drawings inside my head and decided to start writing it down.

Somewhere through that first book I wrote in high school, or near the end of it, I dreamed about writing for the rest of my life, but, as I came close to finishing the story that, at this time, I have no intention of publishing, my life fell apart over and over throughout 2016 because of my mental health, so much so that I didn’t nail down writing as a career until the winter of that year, after I had missed my first semester of college, and decided to take a leap by changing from Computer Science to Creative Writing as my major. It’s also worth noting that I had written a lot before that. I had been in advanced reading and writing classes since around 2nd or 3rd grade, had written terrible, little stories in 2nd grade to get candy from my homeroom teacher, and had built up close to one hundred poems throughout high school before I started writing my first book. Those I would actually write from as early as 5:30 in the morning, into the bus ride to school, between classes and lunch, on the bus ride home, and even sometimes in the evening.

Academically, I now have an Associate’s in Creative Writing from Carroll Community College that included two Gen-Ed English courses and two more English courses all about creative writing, and I am now pursuing a Bachelor’s in Communication at the University of Maryland Global Campus.

Professionally, I have gone through the writing, editing, and cover design aspects of a handful of novels with the help of two graphic designers that I consider family, and, with the latter four of those novels and anymore I write, I have gone through and will go through the process of getting them published digitally and physically on Amazon.

I do feel like my whole writing process is odd, but it’s all my own, and what makes me comfortable. The process begins with an idea, obviously, and then grows from there. I get ideas from dreams, random inspiration, and inspiration from other media, and, if I like an idea enough, I write it down and come back to it. Nowadays, I won’t start an idea for a book until the idea is fairly concrete, meaning I know most of the major plot points throughout, specifically the beginning, middle, and end, and some of the other details spread throughout. I’ve never actually had to sit down to brainstorm ideas since, just from the list of events that can give me an idea, I have more than enough to work with for now, and, beyond the original idea, the greater details for a book typically come as I’m writing another book. And, once I am finished with that book, I move onto the next book that I have the most ideas for. I do my best to write 750-1000 words a day to keep my books moving, but I do sometimes take week or month long breaks, either at the end of one book, during intense school periods, or just when I’m feeling burnt out, demotivated, or fatigued. When one book is finished, I sometimes want to jump right into another, but, whenever I’m editing at length, I don’t spend time writing as I give that time up for the editing.

I think a lot of people would be surprised about my actual writing space and what I do while I write. I always have to take a couple of steps to make sure I’m relaxed enough for writing. This starts by turning off any lights in my room, and I make sure that all blinds are closed. I then need music, which is always some Indie I have from an extremely large playlist I’ve put together, and I make it loud enough to make sure I hear nothing from around my house that might distract me. And, finally, I get in bed as if I’m taking a nap, and use that music to get into the writing mood and flow, so that I can get as much as I can do in an hour or so.