Doug Simpson, Author: May 2012

It is my pleasure to welcome Ellie Mack to my blog today, as part of our Tasha Turner Coaching Virtual Blog Tour. Welcome Ellie!

How I Got Into Writing

By Ellie Mack

As a child I became fascinated with Tom Sawyer. I wanted to be the female equivalent, making my own adventures. Growing up in a small town along the Mississippi River, I figured it was a natural fit. I believe that was the first spark that ignited my wild imagination. A few years later I discovered Carolyn Keene and a new mystery was behind every corner. Many summer days were spent in my tree house, or at the picnic table filling multiple spiral notebooks with story ideas and fantastic adventures. I still have those notebooks.

When I chose a career field I followed the safe practical route. While I loved my literature classes and the process of writing research papers, I continued my pursuit towards a B.S. in cartography (map making). I was reprimanded for being a daydreamer and a career in writing was simply out of the question for practical purposes. Creativity was not encouraged, in fact it was discouraged and the push for practical pursuits was a constant influence.

The degree in Science landed me a position with the Department of Defense. It was a challenging and interesting field. During this time I authored government documents and training manuals. Even then I had to do rewrites; they just didn’t appreciate a good romance between the soldiers in the field and the analysts in the lab. In my spare time at home, I wrote scandalous tales of espionage and romantic mushy tales of love since my endeavors were not appreciated in the training manuals. The government job paid well until I took an early retirement to start the next phase of my life as a full time mom. During this time I began delving into my writing aspirations. I had small children that sat enrapt listening to my tales. There’s nothing better than having your audience on the edge of their seat, hanging on your every word. It was like throwing lighter fluid on my imaginative sparks of creativity.

I joined a critique group where I sharpened my skills. I listened, observed, and hesitantly shared my own work. Just before my mother passed away, she signed me up for an online writing course as a gift. Through my instructor’s encouragement and direction I gained the confidence to begin submitting my work. Our local paper liked my writing, and soon I had an Opinion column. Unfortunately, the newspaper went out of business and my writing outlet ended. That’s when I took the plunge into blogging. I love it! My blogs are fairly short and allow me the time to continue my pursuit of being a published novelist.

It’s through writing that I feel I express myself best. The creation process is often messy, and difficult to follow, but when I’m finished there is a sense of satisfaction that nothing else has provided, Not even the successful targeting of enemy facilities.

Ellie Mack lives in a small town near St. Louis, Missouri. She graduated from Southeast Missouri State University with a BS in geography/cartography. She has worked for Department of Defense, county government, as a substitute teacher, and various other jobs. Her hobbies include reading, bicycling, playing Tombraider, and Dance games such as Dance Dance Revolution, and Zumba. Between being a mother to two teenage girls, a wife, homemaker, and a mortgage loan officer, Ellie writes paranormal romances.
Ellie’s first erotica piece is appearing on http://storytimetrysts.blogspot.com/

Ellie’s blog can be found at: http://quotidiandose.wordpress.com/2012/05/25/passion-2/

Ellie is currently working on two novels and has agreed to share with us a short preview for each of them.

Kiss of the Dragon is a paranormal romance about Isabelle Lennox, an interior designer from Texas. She falls through a mirror to end up back in medieval times where she meets Zanathrus Fallon, Lord of the Green Dragons.

Everything that she has thought about who she is, is about to be shattered. When she is thrown into Zane’s world, it “wakes her up inside” awakening her true being. Like a Celtic knot, her life is interwoven intricately into the tapestry of life, prophecy, and destiny. The hidden truths begin to surface as their relationship develops. The ordinary existence she had is nothing compared to the grandeur of who she really is.

In a world of dragons, wyverns, mages, and warriors; Isabelle discovers her own strength and purpose. She is either the destiny or destruction for the dragon world. Which will it be? Either way, there’s no turning back to the darkness that was before.

Reality has never been as good as fantasy.

My second work in progress is: Faere Guardian, the first in a trilogy of Celtic Ties series.

Lexy Barton is an average midwestern girl, mostly. She is unaware of the powers she has been given by he Tuatha de Danaan, or Faeries When Lexy runs into Kyle McAlister in the bookstore where she works, her world begins to spiral out of control. Mystical ties to her ancestral land and to the Fae hurl Lexy and Kyle into a world of chaos and danger.

As Guardian to the Seelie court, Kyle has been charged with the responsibility to keep the gateways in his region closed to the Unseelie who are hell bent on destroying humans and regaining their footing on Earth.

Someone is determined to allow the Unseelie access. Will Kyle manage to prevent it? Ties are much deeper than Kyle or Lexy ever could have imagined.