I am a lover of stories. Growing up in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio, I always was reading something. When I would go camping with my best friend she would forbid me from bringing a book with me, because, inevitably, I would curl up in the tent with my book, too engrossed to spend time with her. I would sneak my book in my bag anyway, telling myself I would only read it in the morning. My bestie was a late sleeper. Sometimes I even stuck to my vow.
In high school, I wrote music lyrics and really bad poetry, convinced I was going to be the next Stevie Nicks. If only I had spent as much time playing my guitar as I did writing, perhaps I could have been. Although, my singing voice goes flat when I’m nervous.
In college, term papers occupied most of my writing mind, but my roommate opened my eyes to an entirely new genre. Fantasy! Previously I had been prone to reading spy novels. Mercedes Lackey and Marion Zimmer Bradley quickly became my authors of choice. And right before the first Lord of the Rings movie debuted, I decided I needed to read the books first. That sealed the deal – fantasy lover for life.
What I didn’t realize until later, was I was already a Sci-fi fan. As a kid I had all the Star Wars action figures and my brother and I would play endlessly with them on the floor in the den. My uncle took us to every Star Trek movie the weekend it came out. Thank you Uncle D! He’s also responsible for at least one of the eleven times I saw E.T. in the theater.
After graduating from The Ohio State University, and firmly ensconced in the 9 to 5, and not really caring for it, I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do with my life. I turned back to writing. I wrote a novel – a terrible novel – filled with every single fantasy trope I’d ever heard of. I submitted it to agents and publishing companies. Rejection after rejection. I kept writing.
In 2002 I moved to Denver, Colorado. Writing became more of a hobby, as I made new friends and engaged in building my life here. But one day, I was browsing Craig’s List and found an ad for submissions wanted. It was for a steam punk anthology. I had no idea what steam punk was, but a quick Google search fixed that, and I was off and writing. I cried when I got my acceptance email. I was at a bar having brunch, watching football, when for some reason I decided to check my email on my phone. This wasn’t my normal M.O, but something prompted me to look. The bartender thought my boyfriend had made me cry and offered to punch him out. I celebrated by buying a round of shots for the bar.
The Tunnel Rat’s Journey became my first published short story. The response I received was incredibly positive, and all the readers I talked to wanted more. So, I began the journey of writing The Tunnel Rat, Out of the Tunnel and the two books to follow in that universe. On that journey I met and fell in love with the man who is now my husband, and acquired the other love of my life, a mutt named Jasper, who is slowly going blind.
This has truly been an amazing adventure for me. I hope you enjoy your adventure reading about Emily as much as I did writing her.