Tell us about your journey! What led you to this point?
I’m an accounting analyst by day and a full-time mom to a wonderfully goofy and energetic 7-year-old boy, Elijah, who inspires me on my journey every day. I’ve also been married to my best friend, Monte, for nearly 15 years. He’s always told me that being married to me is an adventure. I have yet to prove him wrong, which leads me to this place where I am now creating a series of children’s picture books inspired by everyday life with my son.
For years, I’ve wanted to be an author and have dabbled in fanfiction, poetry, local writer’s groups, and vaguely plotted out a young adult fantasy trilogy that I hope to write. Through all that, I never thought I’d find myself here – creating magic and shifting my focus to children’s books.
This whole thing has been an interesting experience for me. There’s definitely been a lot of lessons that I have learned throughout this process, including aspects of my own personal journey that have turned my world upside-down. I’ll be honest, it hasn’t all been easy, but it’s been pretty magical.
What has been your biggest achievement?
I’ve always wanted to be a published author. Now, I am, and it’s in a way that I can encourage and inspire others to be bold and be themselves. To me, that’s what matters and what continues to drive my creative journey. So that continues to be my biggest achievement.
What’s the biggest result you help your clients to achieve?
I hope my children’s books encourage people to be themselves and remind them of the magic that is inside of them. No one should have the power to tell us who we can or can’t be. That power resides in us. As I bring the Magick in Me series to life, that’s the message I want to share. I hope readers find the strength and courage to be brave and live their truths whatever they may be.
What would be your biggest piece of advice for readers who want to achieve the same?
Becoming an author is a lot easier these days with being able to self-publish on various platforms, but it’s not going to happen if you don’t actually set your idea to paper and write. My biggest piece of advice is to write. Get your idea down. It can always be developed and edited later, but the important thing is to get the story out, even in its roughest form.
What are the biggest mistakes you see people make and how can they be avoided?
You know, the biggest mistake people make is never getting their idea out there. There are a lot of people that wish they could be an author or would like to write a book, but they never do. Some don’t even try. The thought is really quite daunting. I probably made every mistake you could on my own writing journey. So what? I did it, and I have my first story out there and an entire line-up to follow. If you want to avoid some of the pitfalls of writing or publishing a book, I’d say do some actual research on what publishing entails. It’s a whole other world out there to learn and navigate, so be realistic and learn about the processes. But the most important thing is to start writing…
How do you plan on further growing your business?
This is a hard one for me to answer because I didn’t really think about this aspect of things. I have a children’s book and message that I want to share with people, and that requires having some visibility and putting myself out there. The thought honestly terrified me, but I want to see myself succeed, as well as share my stories. So that’s led me to work with the publicist team to do just that. I have sent out inquiries to some media outlets on my own and scheduled a few local book readings and signings, but making that investment will help me get it out there on a broader scope.
Where can the readers find you?
Readers can mostly find me being active on social media, specifically Facebook and Instagram. I’m working on getting my website up too, but mostly they will find me out in my community trying to make it a better place.
