Introducing Myself

Introducing myself to the Medium world by way of introducing myself to the Illumination Publication.

My life with books began when my mother was working at the Claude Public Library in the panhandle of Texas. Claude is a very small town and the library was in the basement of the city hall. When I think of that library, I think of two things: My mother forever typing cards for the card catalog that she created for them, and the musty smell of old books. I love that smell.

I have been writing in one form or another since I was a child. And, as most kids, I’ve been drawing/painting my whole life. As I work, I see myself using the two together; they feed off of each other. Even writing when my blog or on Medium, I try to use photographs that I’ve taken rather than finding stock images. It feels more authentic. It may not be sustainable, but it’s my preference, and I can feel the difference.

I have one book about to be published by a hybrid publisher in London, Notebook Publishing. My book, Carmela’s Outside, which is more of a novelette, was born from my cats. I live with cats and watch them interact with each other. I began to anthropomorphize and create little stories in my head — stories about them talking, what they were saying, what kind of accents they had. After writing a few pages here and there about the cats, I eventually took a break from the mystery novel I was working on and focused my attention on actually making my cats stories into a full piece. It’s smaller than a full-fledged novel, but it’s mine; it was born in my head and demanded to be put on paper. The characters are all cats who have lived with me.

The mystery novel, which I will return to as soon as I am able, was inspired in a similar way. It didn’t have to be a mystery, except that I very much enjoy reading mystery novels. It is really about the people I’ve seen and known in this small town in Central Texas where I live. I watch their interactions and my mind demands that I put my thoughts into writing. The characters in the mystery novel are not the people here in town, but the characters are inspired by those people. I also draw inspiration from people I see on Facebook, in coffee shops and grocery stores. I don’t listen to their conversations; I make up my own for them. If I see a person that I find interesting, my mind fills in the rest. Like Agatha Christie said, I don’t want to know their real stories; that would ruin it for me.

I do still have an 8–5 job, but I’m working toward the day I can work from home as a writer. I had to take a little over a week off from work during this pandemic, and it was enough for me to know that I want to work from home, and I want to work for myself. That is my goal.

One other note about fiction writing: If I am ever portrayed as a character in a mystery novel, I’d want to be the villain. They’re far more interesting.