Obviously, this is my first post on this blog so why not introduce myself? My name is Lindsey Elyse and I am a writer/author. I currently have two published books which are a part of my Lost Gun series and plan on getting more out there. There are links on this page for you to get a free sample of my first book, Ghost (Lost Gun #1) and a free copy of Bartender (Lost Gun Novella), if you would like to take a look. While the easily accessible links are for Smashwords, please note that my books are available at your favorite ebook retailer, such as Barnes & Noble and Amazon! Please, download a copy and leave me a review!
But you didn't come here to have me force my books on you. You probably came here wanting to know who I am and why I started this blog. Right? Well, I am here to not only promote my books, but to help other writers with their writing such as providing an ear to listen (or an eye to read), advice, inspiration, and motivation. I want you to know that I have been there. The struggling writer who hid from the world fearing what others thought. There were moments where my storytelling would come out, but I never told people what I wrote and was always defensive about it. Somehow, I ended up here so please, let me tell you a little bit of my story.
So what got me into writing? Well, I think it is a pretty funny story. To be honest, I never thought I'd enjoy writing. I was just your typical college student struggling through classes, fighting to get those much needed high grades while trying to get a decent amount of sleep. My second year, I had a roommate that I remained friends with, Kate. My third year, I moved out into my own apartment. Kate and I kept contact and when she decided to start a club on campus, she asked if I would be willing to help "fill the room" as it were. I agreed on the condition I would be allowed to work on my papers (I had to write a lot). It became a weekly thing for me to go to Graphic Novel Club (not that kind of graphic novel!) and overhear conversations about comic books and heroes. Then one day, Kate got a small group of us together, myself included, and wanted to come up with something interactive for the members. After some debating, we settled on a Character Creation Contest. You can see where this is going, can't you? That day arrives and we draw three words to inspire our character. Mine were: evil, light, squirrel. What was I supposed to do with that? Oh, bonus points for backstory! Backstory? I could do that. Over the next few days, a character bubbled forward and her story slowly came to light. Knowing that I would fail at remembering it, I wrote down her origin story. Night of the reveals, we had a competition for best character, tournament style! I have no clue how I made it to the finals. There I was, standing in the middle of the room, trying to embody my character while staring down this other guy who's character had a huge ego. Well, long story show, my vampire lost to the dude whose stomach ate you and tossed you into a gazebo world. Eh, no biggie. Was fun really. But little did I suspect that my character's story would stick with me and pester me until I wrote. So I wrote. And wrote. And wrote a lot. I would write when I needed a break, when I was bored, when I was stressed, when I needed to clear my head. Writing quickly became my escape and the best way for me to spend my weekends.
Eventually, I graduated, did whatever with my life for the next two years, then ended up back in my hometown. Boredom struck, so I dove head first into writing. My writing had taken a huge hit after college. My inspiration was down, I was going through a weird time in my life, it was simply stressful. At home, where I had plenty of time to myself, stress melted away and I opened my laptop for long, late nights. Yes, my sleep schedule was totally screwed up from that. One day at Starbucks, I'm scrolling through a Google community I had joined and saw a post by someone wanting to do a writing exercise, one short story a day. Sure, why the hell not. I did it. In typical me fashion, a story stuck out and wouldn't leave me alone. More writing ensued which led to my first finished book (I have a hard time ending my stories since I enjoy filling them out, when I don't have writer's block).
I met someone, Chris, and after dating for almost a year, I ignored my fear let him read it. He knew that I wrote, but never pushed me to have him read my work. He asked once, but my reaction caused him to laugh and tell me that he would be there should I choose to share. Well, that day came and when Chris finished reading, he asked why I wasn't published. Up to this point, I had never considered publishing. They were just stories. Stories that I had no interest in sharing with the world. We spoke about it. Then after much thinking, I made the decision to bite the bullet and try self-publishing to see what people thought of my writing. Ghost was published just before New Years. It took a little while, but after finding some people to read and review, I realized that I didn't have to hide my work. Months later, I expanded some more and released Bartender. My boyfriend was proud of me for getting out from under my rock.
The thrill of hearing feedback has become like one of my cups of tea. Before you ask, yes, I do drink tea a lot. So why do I say feedback is like a cup of tea? Easy, tea keeps me calm, relaxed, and focused. Reviews are much like the same to me. I see what readers think and then I can improve upon my work. Working on my writing is oddly relaxing. If I'm able to take a week and just survive on tea, listening to music while rereading my stories, I would be the happiest person under my roof. However, this past year and a half has been exceptionally busy. I got involved with helping a problem child. Chris and I got engaged and we married (I'm so lucky to have him!), only to have a bunch of other stuff test us. He and I are fine, by the way. It's just that I lost my grandfather which caused a ton family drama. Then some of my family is having health problems and I'm the lucky caretaker. I feel horrible for my husband but he has been such a trooper. If you knew about me, there are a few things that would stick out, including that I have the best timing, but the worst luck. I'm in a weird luck phase apparently. But this isn't the place to vent my personal frustrations. All I will say about them is that they are being successful in pushing me back on my goals and failing to meet deadlines (such as having book three published by New Year's).
Phantom (Lost Gun #2) is my current project. I have a couple people reading through it, though one is going super slow due to work, so I will have an idea of how it'll be. Should I need to edit, it may take a little while. I also have the cover for it almost finished. There's just a stylistic detail that I've been debating on for the past couple months. With me, since I'm self-publishing, how I'm going about it, I do everything myself. The writing, editing, cover, conversion to ebook format, everything. It can be a bit tiring, but I enjoy the work. Fingers crossed that I can get a bunch of work done soon.
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