So, it’s been a while since I posted on here, and for that I apologize. I am an author who is autistic and has ADHD, and the time just got away from me (I swear I just posted last week… such is time blindness).
So, big update. I went to my first in person writers conference this past weekend, and I can honestly say I learned a lot, but it was also very overwhelming. I think by day 2 my social battery had been fully depleted, and I just wanted to get home (mind you, it was a 7-8 hour drive home, do not recommend when you are already running on empty). But there were some very important lessons there, including what to put into a newsletter so it isn’t a full info dump all the time, and more importantly, how to identify your brand.
It was this second topic that had me thinking most of the time I was there to try and define my brand and the stories I write. I write across different sports, different ages, different tropes, so what is it that they all have in common?
And then I realized, my stories all seem to have three elements, but told in different ways.
My stories focus on broken people. These are people that have been let down by life, forged by trauma or abandonment, who have difficulty trusting others. These are the people who are wary with those they let near, waiting to be certain before starting to lower the walls they keep around themselves and let someone in. And I realized that… I’ve been writing what I know. I am someone who was always very outgoing and friendly, but I don’t let people close until it feels right (and then I will glomp on and not let go until you adopt me), or until I know they can be trusted. And that’s partially because I had to become the parent in my household very young because my mother was not able to, and my father had passed away when I was an infant. So I have a lot of “acquaintances” but only a handful of friends who truly know me, because they are the ones I trust, my ride or dies.
Part of that is, I think, that I could never trust my relatives, or the family of people I was born into. So to me, family are the people you choose, not the people you are related to. And that features heavily in my stories, the friends who surround you, who support you, who become your brothers or your sisters, your adopted moms, dads, aunts and uncles. The people who you can call at 2 am and they will be there, no questions asked.
And through their support and the support of the person you fall for, you can begin to heal. I don’t write stories of someone coming in and “fixing” a main character, but on giving them the support they need to grow into the person they want to be. To stand beside them with a helping hand, not to pull them, but to strengthen them. It’s the character that ultimately stands on their own, their heads held high, as they are surrounded by the people who love them.
So the big take away for me from the conference was that knowledge, that I write broken people, found family, and love that puts you back together. These are the foundations of all of my stories, because they are all deeply important to me as an author.
I write emotionally intense romances for readers who want resilience, belonging, and transformative love.
What do you think, does it fit? Let me know!
