I’ve written and published over two dozen romance novellas and short stories under two different pen names. I’m not quite ready to share those pen names yet, but for over twenty years, I was a professional author.
Most of my stories were paranormal or sci-fi romance, most with some sort of basis in mythology or folklore, which is a primary interest of mine and has been since I was young. Viking berserkers, medieval werewolves, Russian folklore creatures, it all informed my stories.
How did I start? I was standing in a shower in 2002, in England, and I started writing a story idea in the steam on the shower wall. I realized this was not a very permanent way to get the words down, finished washing my hair, then scurried to my desk, still wrapped in a towel. I wrote down my idea, sat back, and went, “This is terrible. Why is this so bad?” It turns out that while I was pretty good at the mechanics of writing (prizes for essay writing, BA in Communication), I really didn’t know how to write anything longer than a short story, or how to write in the genre I loved.
Five years and several hundred thousand words later, I published my first novella and never looked back. For the next twenty years, I wrote.
Then I burned out pretty spectacularly and haven’t done more than scribble a few words here and there since early 2023. I mean, I’ve burned out before, and there was about a four or five year stretch where I was ultra-focused on taking care of my family through some stressful times, but I still kept my hand in. But these last couple of years? Nah. I thought I was done. Retired. Nothing left in the tank.
However, I’m coming to realize that nothing that big is ever truly gone. It may get put in the injured list. It may need to rest and recuperate. But it’s never going to disappear forever.
So, there’s my bit of wisdom and encouragement for any of you who want to dive into any kind of creative work. There is a season for everything. Your particular creative outlet may be primary in some seasons and it may lie fallow and rest in others, but the root of it never dies.
Loom Blossom 