Welcome to My World

So, I decided that I would create a blog for my book. This is mostly to keep everyone updated (my millions of fans) on the status of publication, sneak previews, and all things I'm currently working on. First off, the title of the book is the title of my blog. This is my very first book and so I'll give a little background on how this all got started.

A couple of years ago (two I think), I had a friend on Facebook that posted the following sentence, "So there I was..." I thought, What an interesting sentence. It could be finished in so many ways. I got in the shower and instantly an idea came to me. It was the strangest thing, but a story started to form in my head. I could picture the opening scene of a girl standing on a cliff about to make the biggest decision of her life. I got out of the shower, sat down with a notebook and pen, and immediately wrote it all down before I forgot the story. Needless to say, the first line of the book is, "So there I was." I was excited about it and read it to my husband. He's a saint and thought it sounded awesome and that I was the best writer ever (okay so he didn't say the last part). So I decided to type it up on the computer. It started out as "Nick's book." But it soon turned into the Prologue.

I wasn't sure where I was going to go with it at first. I thought, Maybe I can make it a short story. That would be awesome. So, I started to think about where this girl on this cliff actually was. I traveled to England a little over 7 years ago as my graduation from college present, and I loved it. It was so green. That's what this cliff looked like in my mind. I decided to research towns in Scotland and Ireland because I wanted the story to take place in the most northern place possible, right on the coast. And I wanted it to be a smaller town with a University. I found the town of Portstewart in North Ireland. (Where I really hope to visit someday). They have a college just a few minutes away in a town called Coleraine.

I love to read young adult books. All kinds-vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, angels, witches, and all sorts of supernatural abilities. My cousins, Amanda and Rachel (who I happened to have as the best roommates ever in college), introduced me to the world of L.J. Smith books in high school. The Nightworld series instantly became my favorite. And so began my obsession. I'm a voracious reader. I can read a 400 page book in two days (a trait which my awesome 9 year old has inherited). Wow, that was a long winded way of telling you that I am really getting tired of these high school romances. Is this really going to happen to a 16 or 17 year old girl? As much as we all want to believe in true love at first sight when we're that age, it's just not a reality. And what the heck is up with love triangles? Now granted, these annoying things aren't stopping me from reading these books, but I wanted something a little different.

So, I created Waverly Quinn. She just graduated from high school and is on her way to University in Ireland. What could be a more romantic setting, right? I needed a town that was similar to Portstewart, but in the States. She had to be American after all. I started researching the smallest towns on the Pacific coast, and I found Yachats (pronounced Ya-hots), Oregon. Population in 2000: 617. It's right on the coast, and the weather is very similar.

Waverly heads off on a journey that will change her life forever. Soon after her arrival in Ireland, she meets Finn O'Neill. Now, I have these characters and now I need to come up with a name. I played around with different ideas involving the word "darkness," but finally settled on In the Midst of Darkness. (Don't ask me how because I won't tell you).

The story got put aside for awhile because, alas, my ideas ran away. But I decided to start researching Ireland and Vampires a bit more. Very interesting books at your local library on the history of vampires by the way. The ideas started to come a little here and there, a few pages at a time. I thought that if I could even end up with 50 pages when I was done, it would be a huge accomplishment for me. I never dreamed that I would be capable of writing a book, but always thought it would be really fun.

When I got to 20 pages that following summer, I was stoked (yes, I just used the word "stoked"). Because my story had only just begun. Again, the ideas ran away for a year (little snippets would come on and off). But this past summer of 2011, something miraculous happened. I thought, Dang it, I feel like writing. And so I did. The weird thing is, that except for a couple of chapters towards the beginning of the book, it all came to me in order. I sat down one day, and started writing. And wrote and wrote some more, until my kids drove me nuts from their constant badgering for ridiculous requests like dinner. Sheesh, what selfish kids. I did take them to the pool and library and movies several times a week all summer, but I still took time to write almost everyday. The laundry and dusting pretty much got ignored though. My saint of a husband put up with with "whatever you want" dinner nights, and late nights not hanging out with him while I sat at the computer until 2 a.m. I sat there for like two weeks straight doing research and writing until my back hurt so bad I couldn't stand up straight. Lots of Aleve and heating pads.

It was odd how, as I wrote, it just flowed out of me. The sentences just kept coming. My fantastic 11 year old encouraged me all along. He would ask all day everyday, "How many words do you have now, Mom?" And then he would give me a goal for x-amount of words by the end of the day. The end result is a 108,018 word book. Since then, I've gone over it many times and edited and added here and there. I thought that it would be fun to self-publish just for the heck of it so my family could all have a copy. I posted on Facebook one day about the editing process, and another fabulous cousin, Brian, volunteered for the job as chief editor. I say "fabulous" because he has 7 kids and a real job. Which means late nights and snippets of time here and there for him to actually devote to my book. Sure we went a little past deadline (okay, a lot) ;), but I am absolutely loving the end result. It's a good thing he's a grammar nerd, and a guy because he's giving me fabulous (I really like that word) ideas on how to change things here and there to make things make sense to other people, and I love having a guy's point of view (even though he is sometimes rude about how wonderful Finn is). They make perfect sense in my head, but I guess it needs to make sense to everyone else.

So, my new goal is to have it done and published by Mother's Day. I will keep you all updated on the progress, and perhaps even give you some sneak peeks. I am currently working on the sequel. I know, I know, I hate waiting for sequels too. By the time they come out, I can't remember how the first book ended. But Brian has promised (okay, not really) to finish it in a more timely manner. I'm only about 20 pages in, but more research was required, and once again, for the time being, the ideas ran away. One of my resolutions is to have it finished by the end of the year so that the editing process can start earlier.

Well, I've written a novella here as my first entry, but if you're still reading, then you're actually interested in reading my book. I would love to answer any questions you have. I'm sure there's a lot I've forgotten to explain, so I'll write more as I think of it.