I Am Not the Next Neil Gaiman

My goal for writing is not to get published. No, I'm completely serious. Oh sure, eventually, I would like to be published, but I have a whole lot of practice, hard work, and rejection ahead of me before I get to a point where what I write is high enough quality for publication. However, even when I remove the possibility of being a published author from the equation, my desire to write is still there. It doesn't matter if it will never be more than a hobby, I still enjoy writing, including those moments where I'm so frustrated by the cursor flashing on a blank screen that I want to pull my hair out by the roots.

To be blunt, I don't truly believe I have the chops to be the next Stephen King or Nora Roberts. What I do have are loads of ideas and a desire to write the sorts of stories I personally would want to read, and if other people happen to enjoy what I write, then that would be awesome. Writing for myself is fun, but I think I'd derive more pleasure from it if I knew others were enjoying it too. By practicing my prose (and to some extent, writing here) I hope to bring my skill level up to a point where I feel confident enough to share my stories with more than my closest friends. Maybe even other writers.

Perhaps someday I'll see my work on a shelf in some bookstore next to other authors I admire, or perhaps I won't. Whatever does end up happening, I want to be able to at least say that I had fun and that I shared that fun with an audience who loved it.

About This Blog

Hello, my name is Jade and I am a writer. Well, I want to be a writer at any rate, and that's why I'm here. As of this writing, I am twenty-nine years old and I reside in South Carolina with my six year-old son, two dogs, and two cats.

Although I have a LiveJournal, this blog will focus far less on my personal life and more on my writing, specifically why I write. I'll also be using this blog as a place to brainstorm ways to keep writing even when I feel like all I'm turning out is utter garbage. As I get more comfortable, I might discuss what I'm writing beyond more than the vague "high fantasy" or "paranormal."

If you'd like to know more about my life as a single mother and pet owner -- or rather, pet servant, you can hop on over to my LiveJournal, though not all those entries are available for public consumption. However, if you do have a LiveJournal, you can add me there and chances are I'll add you back. I still might make the occaisional life-related post here, but not nearly as much as my journal. I am also going to try to keep my political rantings to a minimum here except where they relate to the reasons I write.