If you’re reading this, I’m guessing you’re exploring my site and trying to learn more about me. I’m also guessing you want to know more beyond the author blurb that’s included in books.
One day, I imagine I’ll be able to fill oodles and oodles of pages with my life. In the meantime, however, you’ll have to make do with what you see here:
I have been writing stories since learning how to write, each year I’d wait on the edge of my seat as the teacher announced when the creative writing portion of the year would be. The older I got, the more disappointed I became at how stifling the rules became.
One year they made us write about hockey. They even entered us into some kind of contest, but it was more about following instructions than being creative.
From what I’m told, I was telling stories long before I knew how to write. Many children have imaginary friends, I had an imaginary world that I never quite grew out of.
While I have at least average intelligence, I didn’t realise being an author was a job that one could have until I was thirteen and one visited my school. My friends set me right and I’ve been writing with that in mind ever since.
Once I had a stable internet connection, I began researching everything to do with big house publishing and was thoroughly disappointed. There’s the short window of opportunity on shelves, the very limited acceptance, and either quitting your day job and becoming the starving artist, or continuing on for decades and getting little return.
Don’t get me wrong, a publishing house has a time and a place and loves some authors. I just never felt like they’d love or want me.
So, I continued posting my stories for free, for years and years. All the while looking into indie publishing. After weighing the pros and the cons of the entire thing, I chose the route I’m on now, rather than going to a smaller publishing house.
With years of practice, I can write a book in a month. If I’m focused, if I set goals, if I know the gist of everything that’s going on, or if the characters give me a clear path. At this time, however, I’m not always focused.
I do have a day job to pay my bills. I am not being supported or sponsored by a spouse, family, or friends, and am the only one paying my bills and caring for me and my home. As you may have seen me say on other areas of the site, that is not being said so that you’ll throw me a pity party. I don’t want one.
It’s more of a begging for patience. I sometimes can’t work for a day up to a week even because work is stressful, or I need to do a deep clean of the apartment because the ceiling is leaking… again. Or I simply need a break from the two full time jobs. Sometimes the writing slows down and sometimes I may not make launch dates, but I will keep you updated on where I am and how long I think it’s going to be.
Oh, and my brain is broken. Gently, a little bit, maybe just a little fractured. When you rely on your brain for your job and it gets shut down by migraines and episodes of weird static, it gets frustrating. A migraine can shut down writing for up to two weeks, but I can do all the other things. An episode shuts down all work for a week before it starts back up again.
Trust me, if I could get a diagnosis and medication for the episodes, I would. I’ve yet to meet a worse feeling than having everything that I am stripped away and replaced with static and just enough of me left to understand what’s missing.
Aya DeAniege 