The road to getting published is a long, windy, rocky one. After four and a half years of taking writing seriously and white-knuckling many twists and turns, I’m very happy to be where this road has led me.

Early in 2022 (I believe), after writing two middle grade novels, I tried something different. I enjoyed writing for kids (and still do!), but found myself taking this new story to much darker places and wanted to allow myself the freedom to go there. I wrestled with this thing. At times, I questioned whether it was too dark and put the story on pause while I worked on other things. But I always came back to it.

When I submitted to Sobelo books in 2024, something told me L.P. Hernandez and L.C. Marino might connect with my dark little story. I had been reading No Gods, Only Chaos, L.P.’s short story collection, and his writing went to the dark places I was tiptoeing into myself (by the way, it’s a GREAT collection).

I was right! And bless both of them for being able to look past the many flaws of my novella at the time. They zeroed in on what worked for the story and gave me instant clarity. I had made it way too complicated with multiple storylines and… what a mess. But one storyline that stood out to L.P. and L.C. has been expanded into its own novella and is now making its way to being published later this year (2025)!

When I signed the contract in January, it brought me such overwhelming feelings of thankfulness. One of the strange stories my brain tells me in the dark will now be shared with others (for better or for worse) all because I persevered, and two wonderful individuals connected with my work. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to thank them enough, but I’m going to try.

Any writers or creatives out there reading this who haven’t yet found the person/people willing to take a chance on you, hold tight and keep pushing. They’re out there.