Yesterday I was thinking about who I am not only as a person, but as a writer and author. I was preparing for an upcoming interview and those are usually the questions that come up. As a person I am thoughtful, kind, creative, sensitive, nerdy, empathetic, caring, friendly, an oversharer, helpful, hopeful, somewhat chaotic, loving, a creature of habit… and more. I love talking to anyone and everyone, especially while standing in line at the grocery store. (This drives my husband nuts.) What he doesn’t realize is that many people will share deep dark secrets with a stranger. I have heard so many crazy stories just by saying hello to the old man waiting in line with three things in his cart.

A Loaf of White Bread, a Can of Spam, and a Case of Wine.

At first glance you would assume that this is a lonely old man who lives alone and hates to cook, but loves wine. I got one thing right… he does love wine, but he doesn’t live alone and he isn’t lonely. His elderly father lives with him and his wife and he will only eat Spam sandwiches on white bread for lunch. His wife realized that they were out of spam and white bread, so she sent Harold to the store.

The next day I sat down to write and decided to name one of my characters Harold. Harold the character was also an old man, but he was a lonely old man who lived alone and was a little lonely. So, one day Harold decided that he was tired of being lonely and went to the grocery store. While waiting in line Harold met Maggie. Maggie was in her 60’s, a widow and just happened to be interested in meeting someone new. Harold asked Maggie if she’d like to meet him for coffee in the morning and she said absolutely.

The next morning Harold and Maggie met for coffee at the local diner. They sat, drank coffee and talked for hours. In that time Harold learned that Maggie used to be a ballet dancer, and loved to take walks along the coastline. Maggie learned that Harold used to be an actor and loved to write stories and poems. From that day forward Harold and Maggie were inseparable and lived happily ever after. The End!

Who Am I As A Writer?

Will the simple story about Harold and Maggie ever get published anywhere? The simple answer is of course not. It was just a story I wrote to get words on the page. As a writer I do this quite often, especially when I can’t find the real words that I want to write. I will write whatever I have on my mind, I love to write across all of the genres and haven’t specialized in anything specific. As a writer I love to hear feedback from readers, both positive and negative. I take any suggestions I receive and will adjust a story as I see fit. As a writer I write for myself first and the reader second.

Why I Write For Myself First.

I write for myself first because I want to read something that I enjoy. Half of my time is spent re-reading what I just wrote and editing it. Could you imagine how daunting that would be if I didn’t enjoy the writing. This is why I will never write a romantic trope novel. I can’t stand them. Romance novels in general and yes I know that is an unpopular opinion amongst most female readers. Do my novels and stories ever contain any romance? Of course they do, but it’s definitely not the main focus.

I write for the reader second, because I will never be able to please everyone. Not everyone is going to like my stories and that’s okay. I have had quite a few eyes on Dreamwalker both male and female and the female reader likes it as is and the male readers tend to not like all the details. And that’s okay. It was suggested that I remove some parts and as noted above I thought about those suggestions. In the end I began to remove those parts and wasn’t happy with the flow, so I put them back in.

No One Tells Me What I Can and Cannot Do!

All of the above is why I’ve chosen to self-publish. I don’t want a publisher telling me what to include and what to cut. What covers I can and cannot use. I guess you could say I don’t like being told what I can and cannot do especially when it comes to writing. Which is why cHaoS! was created. The contents of cHaoS! is what authors are told not to do. Sharing unfinished stories, stories that are unconventional, inner thoughts, and more. And the biggest thing was that it was only edited by my eyes. The horror! So far it has been well received and that’s all that matters.

At the end of the day I will always write for me first and then review and write for the reader. In the near future there will be more cHaoS! Del Plazo: Volume II and of course Dreamwalker. If you’ve read this far then you are a gem and I would to hear your feedback along with what you’d like me to write about. And if you haven’t done so, please like and subscribe.