“And in the end, after the universe has had the final word, I will stand on top of the highest mountain, and I will shout to the stars, ‘This is me. This is who I am.’ And the universe will cower away in utter fear of me.” ~Judea, Tavdorian Skies
I was born.
And raised in a small village in Ecuador. Our village was surrounded by beautiful, giant mountains on which me and my sisters explored on horseback pretty much every weekend. It was perfect.
I actually hated reading until the 6th grade. *Hides*. My mom used to say it was like “pulling teeth” to get me to read anything. Then I turned twelve and found Goosebumps and Harry Potter and all things Bruce Coville, and everything in the world was magical.
When I was sixteen, after my older sisters graduated from high school, my parents and I moved to Indiana for the remainder of my high school years. Met the boy that would be my husband. He led worship at youth group. And he was perfect.
But I didn’t know that at the time.
Went to college in Knoxville, TN for a year. Then traveled to China to teach English to middle schoolers for a year.
Came back to Indiana, married that perfect worship leader who had then become a barista. Now he’s a manager at Starbucks. And coffee master guru. Perfect, I tell you. He brings home a free pound of coffee every week.
After China, I went to nursing school and took creative writing classes on the side. It was during a long afternoon that I was supposed to be studying for nursing exams that I started writing my first book. And, of course, schoolwork pretty much went down the drain. Because once you start writing a book, there’s no hope for reality.
So I started working at a factory that made baby-wipes. But twelve-hour night shifts can kind of take a toll on you, especially when you go days never seeing your loved one, so we decided family time was more important than $. And besides, I wanted to dedicate full time to writing. So I quit the factory job, wrote three more novels, then had two kids.
And that’s how I ended up here.
Now I’m seeking publication for said novels, writing flash-fiction on the side, and being a full-time mama.