People ask me all the time: “Did you always dream of being an author?”
For years, my go-to answer has been something like, “Yes, it just took me 50 years to finally get around to it.” It always gets a laugh, and it’s not entirely wrong. But now that I’ve celebrated the release of my sixth book, I’ve been sitting with that answer a little more honestly. And I’m not sure it’s the whole truth.
Yes, I loved to write as a young girl. Story after story after story. Who knows, maybe some of them could have become something someday. But did I have a burning dream of becoming a published author? I’m not sure I did. What I had was a love of storytelling, and somewhere along the way, life buried it.
That happens. You build a career. You raise kids (and no, I do not blame my kids for this, not even a little). You get busy, and the things that once felt like you somehow end up in a drawer, forgotten. My passion for writing didn’t disappear. I just stopped making room for it.
It took an unexpected life transition in the form of my divorce to shake the storyteller back out of me.
Going through that experience cracked something open. It led me to where I am today: the owner of my own copywriting business, Copywriting For You Corporation, where I write for businesses every single day. Blogs on financial literacy, health and wellness, dental topics, parenting, technology, pets, and more. I genuinely love this work. But somewhere in the middle of building that business, a different kind of writing started calling to me again.
It Started With a Memoir.
At the end of 2024, I released Perseverance. Reinvention., a memoir rooted in everything I had lived through. Shortly after came my business book, The Top 10 Mistakes I Made My First Year as a Copywriter, which came out in early 2025. Two books. I figured I had said what I needed to say. I was done.
Except I wasn’t.
My memoir and my life experience kept nagging at me. There was more on the table. So I wrote Emily’s Next Chapter, originally conceived as a heartfelt letter from a new stepmom to her young stepdaughter, it evolved into something I’d call “romance light.” And once again, I thought I was done.
My readers had other ideas.
They encouraged me to keep going. To refine my craft, get stronger, and keep telling stories. That support led to Jessica’s New Beginning, released in March 2026, book two in what I now call the Starting Over Trilogy (Emily’s story was book one). Partway through writing it, I decided: if I’m really doing this, let’s make it a trilogy. And so I wrote Liz’s Forever After, which came out in early June 2026.
But Apparently, I Still Wasn’t Done
Enter the anthology world. I wrote a steamy romance set in Deadwood, South Dakota, included in the Wild Deadwood Reads 2026 anthology. That story took on a life of its own, and I ended up releasing a spicier standalone version, The House Always Wins, just in time for the event in Deadwood.
And then there’s the story I wrote for the Merrily Indie After anthology, which will be held at Union Depot in St. Paul this November 2026. I had so much fun with it that I wrote two versions: a short story for the anthology and a longer standalone releasing in October 2026. It’s a holiday romance. There’s a dog. The dog brings the two characters together. I’ll leave it at that for now.
I also wrote a short story called A Kiss on the Ships for the Pride & Joy anthology, which will be released at the Booked Eau Claire event in September 2026. I loved that one so much that I’m working on a full-length version that I hope to release in September 2027.
And Then There Are the Two I Haven’t Talked About Yet
I wrote two additional full-length novels, both well over 80,000 words, which is more than 15,000 words longer than any of my trilogy books. One is a super-spicy romance currently in the query process, seeking a publisher (hey, publishers, two-book deal, anyone?).
The other is a psychological thriller, a complete departure from romance, that has been making the agent query rounds with some interest but no deal yet. I’ll be making an announcement on that one soon.
So what am I trying to say with all of this?
Not just that I’ve been busy. Though clearly, I have been. What I’m really saying is this: I have a lot of stories to tell. Once I finish the full-length version of A Kiss on the Ships, I have three more books already taking shape in my head. A sequel to the spicy romance. Another psychological thriller. And another Deadwood romance for 2027.
I may no longer answer “Did you always dream of being an author?” with the same quick quip. The truth is more interesting: I always had stories inside me. Life just had to push me hard enough to finally let them out.
To my readers, thank you for wanting more. I promise, I’m working on it.