destyknight (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
taylorgibbs) wrote2012-09-13 12:57 pm
taylorgibbs) wrote2012-09-13 12:57 pm
My writing journey
I saw ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tejas had done this on her Live Journal and it inspired me. And knowing me, this may be a long post, so sit back and enjoy yourself ;)
As the granddaughter of a reading teacher, I learned to read at the age of four. I was raised by two elderly couples, mostly, and they just weren’t of the TV generation, As a result, I was allowed all the books I could read, and only one hour of TV per night. After I finished running myself ragged outdoors, I’d settle in with a book, from a very young age.
My father encouraged creativity, and when I’d visit with him every weekend, we’d tell each other stories. It started out with him telling me about the princess and the dragon on our drives to see my grandmother, but by age four or five, we’d trade off, sometimes continuing the story, sometimes me telling him one, after he’d told me his.
In first grade, I had a wonderful teacher who nurtured my creativity. Since I was several years above most of the readers in my class, she allowed me to write stories instead of having a one-on-one reading period. One story, about a father and daughter at a zoo, even caught the eye of the principal.
My first fanfiction endeavors were Winnie the Pooh fanfic. I created several characters in that universe. I drove my friends who wanted to “play school” crazy creating backstories for the students.
It seems as if writing was always a part of my life!
In junior high, there were a small group of girls who wrote Beatles and Duran Duran stories. Many of these were obvious author insertion (at eleven years old, this isn’t a problem). I should have wondered why I was always slashing John and Paul, or Simon and Roger, and how bloody they got, but I didn’t. Not then, anyway. My stories were always elaborate, and we’d trade them at lunch, every day.
As an aside, and complete irony, I got to work with John Taylor, bass guitarist with Duran Duran, about fifteen years ago, and he read all the Duranie slash fic out there, even had copies of the fanzines. He was perfectly okay with it, which astounded me.
I had become very active in pen palling when I was in high school, and a woman I’d befriended through postal mail loved romance novels. She confessed in time that she was writing one, and asked if I wanted to read it. I did, she inspired me, and for over a two-year period, we sent each other at least ten single spaced pages (both sides) with our various medieval romances on a weekly basis. I so looked forward to those packages. I’ve lost touch with Maria since, but she was so inspiring.
Early adulthood
I spent a great deal of time in my twenties traveling, which meant a lot of writing time. I noodled with a mystery novel, epic fantasies, scripts, but wasn’t very serious about it.
In my mid-twenties, I found myself at a bookclub at a local used bookstore, where I later worked part-time. The leader of the book club was an amazing writer, and she and I started writing together. We finished three books, and tried to acquire an agent. We never did get one, though we finaled in a contest at Silhouette. Unfortunately, the line (Shadows) folded, though a contract had been part of the winner's package, but we had incredible editorial feedback. My coauthor moved and became very involved in her church, and the stories languished.
Fortunately, she’s come back into the writing fold and is multi-published now. I’m so happy to say I knew her when!
Back when the Internet was young, I worked with AOL, managing some of their forums. One of the forums had an ER and Chicago Hope weekly role playing game. I as very hesitant at first, but dived right in after a while (why should everyone else have all the fun?), writing Jack McNeil, Carol Ross, whoever was needed at the time. It reawakened my interest in fanfic, but the shows I loved just weren’t fandom-friendly. Instead, I found and devoured stories for shows I barely watched—or didn’t watch at all LOL—Sentinel, Stargate, X Files, even Buffy. I wrote several Chi Hope and ER stories, but there were very few readers, or stories, to keep my attention.
In the late ‘90s, I found myself telecommuting, discovered the lure of email-based role-playing games, and discovered a great group of people. The role-playing world, especially those revolving around TV, books, and movies, exploded. There were nights where we’d be constantly emailing for six or eight hours, sending thousands of emails and tens of thousands of words. I think our most productive night resulted in almost 20,000 words, or nearly 100 paperback pages. I created more than a few original characters and enjoyed that blank canvas. A writer I found a really good connection with was Angela, and we write together (on and off) even now.
Ange and I eventually wrote some fanfic together, in various fandoms (soap operas, Harry Potter) but we drifted in and out of writing as I acquired a husband and she removed one from her life.
I noodeled in some fandoms that I probably won't mention, met some great writers, and really sank deep into the slash nd H/C worlds.
Around this time, I discovered some early epublishers, and began buying ebooks. I picked up a Rocket E reader in ’98 or ’99, and started devouring books from authors I’d never heard of before. I’d been drawn to paranormal romance, but it had crashed and burned in ’97. And yet, in the electronic world, paranormal romance and urban fantasy were flourishing. I often wondered “what if” but was so intimidated.
Last decade
I was fairly quiet, creativity-wise as I met, and married, my husband and he relocated, I started a new career, etc. I toyed with fanworks, but nothing had grabbed me as a writer, though I read all sorts of fanworks. Ange popped back into my life (she does that!) and we wrote a bit here and there.
In ’04, my husband discovered Literotica and a few other websites, and kept lamenting the bad writing there. I pointed him to some erotica and erotic romance publishers, and in turn, he suggested I write something and post it. I took up the challenge, wrote a 1,000 word story, and posted it on a free website, never expecting anything.
Imagine my surprise when I had several dozen feedback emails in a couple of hours.
I had some ideas for some books, but lacked focus. Lo and behold, I acquired a coauthor, who helped me nail down some plotting. I sat down at the computer to write my first book, and six hours later stepped away. My coauthor and I edited it and I sent it out to several small presses, never expecting anything.
Three days later—the email arrived. An offer to publish! It changed my life—someone wanted to *buy* our work! Almost three months later, my first coauthored book released, and was followed quickly by two others, and several other contracts offered on proposal. We had our share of revise and resubmit requests, but I’m still amazed that the first book sold.
We got great covers, the edits were frustrating, but doable, and when the first book released electronically, I sobbed. And when the check arrived, I cried again. And touching the print book on store shelves? Yep, torrents of tears. Getting paid to do what I love? That is a huge gift.
Then…disaster hit! My coauthor had lost interest in writing, and we had several projects in process—contracted by not finished. I begged, I cajoled, we talked to a lawyer, the publishing company. We decided that we’d finish these contracted projects and then I’d write solo.
But this just paralyzed me.
I’d discovered NCIS, and had been writing fanfic, but hadn’t published anything yet. I was a fairly quiet member of the communities, and had, I think, eight stories complete, though I was voraciously reading everything.
Coincidentally, as all of this was happening, Ange came back into my life. Though, as I write this, I realize she never really left—we just weren’t writing. Anyway, I was at a creative ebb and she explained she loved the CSIs and NCIS and did I want to try writing something. We conceived an idea and a short history where Mac Taylor (CSI:NY) and Jethro Gibbs (NCIS) served together, and a monster was born.
Ange and I wrote over seven million words of angsty, sometimes soap operatic stories over a seven-month period, many of which have never seen, and will never see, the light of day. We created a thirty-year history for Gibbs and Mac, wildly AU and also wrote stories with, among other characters, Horatio Caine (CSI:Miami), um…Speedle, gosh we did all sorts of things—Tibbs with Shannon and Kelly coming back on the scene, Mike Franks and Jenny as a pairing, Tony, Gibbs, and Shannon as a threesome, Gibbs, Mac Taylor, and Mac’s wife, Claire as a pairing. We paired Tony and Kelly several times. We did these wild soap operatic stories, we did angst where Gibbs’ child is MIA in the Middle East, we did it all lol! You can find some of our work here: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1515508/SilverFoxFiles
Life got busy and Ange became very blocked, so I started focusing on writing mostly NCIS stories. Which is probably how we got to know each other :)
I've had wonderful fun in the NCIS world--both as a solo writer and writing with Ange andstarshines wintermute_lj and silvertales. I adore coauthoring, am always open to writing in RP format or basic prose.
But, one of my loves has always been original characters and I’ve been chafing to get back to writing original.
About a year ago, I started to research independent self publication, and after some pointers from some great people, discovered a forum of folks who wrote erotica and erotic romance, and who seemed to be having various, and in some cases, huge amounts of success.
I created what I call my super sekrit pen name, and published my first book under that penname earlier this year. What sells best is the really boundary stretching stuff, and SSPN is writing just that—writing for the market, rather than writing the books from the heart. At least right now.
On a parallel with that, I had this conceived serialized series, about two men from the special ops community, and sat down to see if I could write a seriously character-driven, yet erotic, romance with some adventure and suspense elements. And the Strategic Affair series was born. Taylor beat SSPN to publication by a few months, and it is so nice to be able to cross over one name with fandom.
So…that’s where I am now. SSPN does on average a book a month, I’m very actively writing fanfic, and Taylor has some original work out there too.
Where my writing life will lead, I just don’t know. I hope to remain small-press pubbed while maintaining the freedom of self publication. And though my interest in the show waxes and wanes, I expect to continue writing in the NCIS world.
The ride has been amazing so far :)
Thanks for reading this!
TG
tejas had done this on her Live Journal and it inspired me. And knowing me, this may be a long post, so sit back and enjoy yourself ;)As the granddaughter of a reading teacher, I learned to read at the age of four. I was raised by two elderly couples, mostly, and they just weren’t of the TV generation, As a result, I was allowed all the books I could read, and only one hour of TV per night. After I finished running myself ragged outdoors, I’d settle in with a book, from a very young age.
My father encouraged creativity, and when I’d visit with him every weekend, we’d tell each other stories. It started out with him telling me about the princess and the dragon on our drives to see my grandmother, but by age four or five, we’d trade off, sometimes continuing the story, sometimes me telling him one, after he’d told me his.
In first grade, I had a wonderful teacher who nurtured my creativity. Since I was several years above most of the readers in my class, she allowed me to write stories instead of having a one-on-one reading period. One story, about a father and daughter at a zoo, even caught the eye of the principal.
My first fanfiction endeavors were Winnie the Pooh fanfic. I created several characters in that universe. I drove my friends who wanted to “play school” crazy creating backstories for the students.
It seems as if writing was always a part of my life!
In junior high, there were a small group of girls who wrote Beatles and Duran Duran stories. Many of these were obvious author insertion (at eleven years old, this isn’t a problem). I should have wondered why I was always slashing John and Paul, or Simon and Roger, and how bloody they got, but I didn’t. Not then, anyway. My stories were always elaborate, and we’d trade them at lunch, every day.
As an aside, and complete irony, I got to work with John Taylor, bass guitarist with Duran Duran, about fifteen years ago, and he read all the Duranie slash fic out there, even had copies of the fanzines. He was perfectly okay with it, which astounded me.
I had become very active in pen palling when I was in high school, and a woman I’d befriended through postal mail loved romance novels. She confessed in time that she was writing one, and asked if I wanted to read it. I did, she inspired me, and for over a two-year period, we sent each other at least ten single spaced pages (both sides) with our various medieval romances on a weekly basis. I so looked forward to those packages. I’ve lost touch with Maria since, but she was so inspiring.
Early adulthood
I spent a great deal of time in my twenties traveling, which meant a lot of writing time. I noodled with a mystery novel, epic fantasies, scripts, but wasn’t very serious about it.
In my mid-twenties, I found myself at a bookclub at a local used bookstore, where I later worked part-time. The leader of the book club was an amazing writer, and she and I started writing together. We finished three books, and tried to acquire an agent. We never did get one, though we finaled in a contest at Silhouette. Unfortunately, the line (Shadows) folded, though a contract had been part of the winner's package, but we had incredible editorial feedback. My coauthor moved and became very involved in her church, and the stories languished.
Fortunately, she’s come back into the writing fold and is multi-published now. I’m so happy to say I knew her when!
Back when the Internet was young, I worked with AOL, managing some of their forums. One of the forums had an ER and Chicago Hope weekly role playing game. I as very hesitant at first, but dived right in after a while (why should everyone else have all the fun?), writing Jack McNeil, Carol Ross, whoever was needed at the time. It reawakened my interest in fanfic, but the shows I loved just weren’t fandom-friendly. Instead, I found and devoured stories for shows I barely watched—or didn’t watch at all LOL—Sentinel, Stargate, X Files, even Buffy. I wrote several Chi Hope and ER stories, but there were very few readers, or stories, to keep my attention.
In the late ‘90s, I found myself telecommuting, discovered the lure of email-based role-playing games, and discovered a great group of people. The role-playing world, especially those revolving around TV, books, and movies, exploded. There were nights where we’d be constantly emailing for six or eight hours, sending thousands of emails and tens of thousands of words. I think our most productive night resulted in almost 20,000 words, or nearly 100 paperback pages. I created more than a few original characters and enjoyed that blank canvas. A writer I found a really good connection with was Angela, and we write together (on and off) even now.
Ange and I eventually wrote some fanfic together, in various fandoms (soap operas, Harry Potter) but we drifted in and out of writing as I acquired a husband and she removed one from her life.
I noodeled in some fandoms that I probably won't mention, met some great writers, and really sank deep into the slash nd H/C worlds.
Around this time, I discovered some early epublishers, and began buying ebooks. I picked up a Rocket E reader in ’98 or ’99, and started devouring books from authors I’d never heard of before. I’d been drawn to paranormal romance, but it had crashed and burned in ’97. And yet, in the electronic world, paranormal romance and urban fantasy were flourishing. I often wondered “what if” but was so intimidated.
Last decade
I was fairly quiet, creativity-wise as I met, and married, my husband and he relocated, I started a new career, etc. I toyed with fanworks, but nothing had grabbed me as a writer, though I read all sorts of fanworks. Ange popped back into my life (she does that!) and we wrote a bit here and there.
In ’04, my husband discovered Literotica and a few other websites, and kept lamenting the bad writing there. I pointed him to some erotica and erotic romance publishers, and in turn, he suggested I write something and post it. I took up the challenge, wrote a 1,000 word story, and posted it on a free website, never expecting anything.
Imagine my surprise when I had several dozen feedback emails in a couple of hours.
I had some ideas for some books, but lacked focus. Lo and behold, I acquired a coauthor, who helped me nail down some plotting. I sat down at the computer to write my first book, and six hours later stepped away. My coauthor and I edited it and I sent it out to several small presses, never expecting anything.
Three days later—the email arrived. An offer to publish! It changed my life—someone wanted to *buy* our work! Almost three months later, my first coauthored book released, and was followed quickly by two others, and several other contracts offered on proposal. We had our share of revise and resubmit requests, but I’m still amazed that the first book sold.
We got great covers, the edits were frustrating, but doable, and when the first book released electronically, I sobbed. And when the check arrived, I cried again. And touching the print book on store shelves? Yep, torrents of tears. Getting paid to do what I love? That is a huge gift.
Then…disaster hit! My coauthor had lost interest in writing, and we had several projects in process—contracted by not finished. I begged, I cajoled, we talked to a lawyer, the publishing company. We decided that we’d finish these contracted projects and then I’d write solo.
But this just paralyzed me.
I’d discovered NCIS, and had been writing fanfic, but hadn’t published anything yet. I was a fairly quiet member of the communities, and had, I think, eight stories complete, though I was voraciously reading everything.
Coincidentally, as all of this was happening, Ange came back into my life. Though, as I write this, I realize she never really left—we just weren’t writing. Anyway, I was at a creative ebb and she explained she loved the CSIs and NCIS and did I want to try writing something. We conceived an idea and a short history where Mac Taylor (CSI:NY) and Jethro Gibbs (NCIS) served together, and a monster was born.
Ange and I wrote over seven million words of angsty, sometimes soap operatic stories over a seven-month period, many of which have never seen, and will never see, the light of day. We created a thirty-year history for Gibbs and Mac, wildly AU and also wrote stories with, among other characters, Horatio Caine (CSI:Miami), um…Speedle, gosh we did all sorts of things—Tibbs with Shannon and Kelly coming back on the scene, Mike Franks and Jenny as a pairing, Tony, Gibbs, and Shannon as a threesome, Gibbs, Mac Taylor, and Mac’s wife, Claire as a pairing. We paired Tony and Kelly several times. We did these wild soap operatic stories, we did angst where Gibbs’ child is MIA in the Middle East, we did it all lol! You can find some of our work here: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1515508/SilverFoxFiles
Life got busy and Ange became very blocked, so I started focusing on writing mostly NCIS stories. Which is probably how we got to know each other :)
I've had wonderful fun in the NCIS world--both as a solo writer and writing with Ange and
starshines wintermute_lj and silvertales. I adore coauthoring, am always open to writing in RP format or basic prose.But, one of my loves has always been original characters and I’ve been chafing to get back to writing original.
About a year ago, I started to research independent self publication, and after some pointers from some great people, discovered a forum of folks who wrote erotica and erotic romance, and who seemed to be having various, and in some cases, huge amounts of success.
I created what I call my super sekrit pen name, and published my first book under that penname earlier this year. What sells best is the really boundary stretching stuff, and SSPN is writing just that—writing for the market, rather than writing the books from the heart. At least right now.
On a parallel with that, I had this conceived serialized series, about two men from the special ops community, and sat down to see if I could write a seriously character-driven, yet erotic, romance with some adventure and suspense elements. And the Strategic Affair series was born. Taylor beat SSPN to publication by a few months, and it is so nice to be able to cross over one name with fandom.
So…that’s where I am now. SSPN does on average a book a month, I’m very actively writing fanfic, and Taylor has some original work out there too.
Where my writing life will lead, I just don’t know. I hope to remain small-press pubbed while maintaining the freedom of self publication. And though my interest in the show waxes and wanes, I expect to continue writing in the NCIS world.
The ride has been amazing so far :)
Thanks for reading this!
TG