This year marks the 20th year of seriously writing. Yep, I started writing my first book in January of 2005. To mark this year, I thought it would be fun if I took you along on a timeline of my writing journey. We’ll go way back, so buckle up and get ready to fly.
8 years old – I dictated “The King and Queen’s Anniversary” and “The Monkey Family” to my mom. You can read them HERE.
11 years old – I wrote “Bill and the Redcoats” and it was “published” in a “newspaper” my older brother was editor of that included all sorts of news and articles. You can read my story HERE.
2000 – Started writing “pretend letters” with friends. You can read a sample HERE.
2005 – I ran out of girls to write “pretend letters” with and started on my first book. Six years and a lot of short stories that have been shared on my Friday blog later I finished my first book.
2011
March – My first book, Home Fires of the Great War was released into the world. The first cover was created by Xulon press where my book was published. I didn’t feel as though it fit the story.
October – I self-published my book The Unexpected Request using CreateSpace. I loved having the control of my book. So . . .
2012
April – I republished Home Fires of the Great War with a new cover, more pictures inside, and was happy with the results.
August – I published a collection of short stories geared for middle grade called Pirates of Rocky Crag Bay.
2013
March – Published another collection of short stories this time focusing on stories for older readers. The Lower Lights and Other Stories. (I redid the cover several years later to what it is now.)
November – The first of the Triple Creek Ranch books was published. A friend painted the cover images and my BFF worked with me to get the full cover designed.
2014
January – I published the second TCR book: Home at Last.
August – Released Rustlers, book 3 of the TCR series.
November – The first of the Graham Quartet books was published. I did change the original cover later. The Graham Quartet and the Mysterious Strangers
December – Triple Creek Ranch Book 4, Stephen, was released to my readers.
2015
March – I published Gift from the Storm. This book was the first I’d gotten someone else to create the full cover for me.
August – Book 5 of the TCR series, Set Free, was finished and released.
November – I published Through the Tunnel. This was the first book that I completely designed the cover entirely on my own. I love how it turned out.
2016
April – The Graham Quartet and they Mystery of the Day Maid was published.
September – I published my first kindle only story, Fitting In.
November – The Old Mansion’s Secret, my first published Christmas story was released.
December – The last and final TCR book, Together, was published.
2017
September – I waited a while to publish my next book which was Dylan’s Story.
October – And then I released Finding Joy.
October – This was a massive publishing month as I released not one, not three, but eight Christmas Collection stories!
Whew! That was a lot of books in a few years! But it gets worse! Or better if you are a reader. Come back next week for Part 2 of this journey.
Have you read any of these books? If so, which ones? Are there any on today’s post that you’ve been wanting to read but haven’t gotten to yet? I’d love to know. And if you have read any of them, have you left a review?
This was such a fun post! Makes me think I might want to borrow your idea for my blog sometime.
Um, let’s see…I’ve read or listened to all these books except Pirates of Rocky Crag Bay, and Christmas Delays. I can’t remember if I finished Lower Lights, but I at least read several stories in it.
Go for it! It would be fun to see your writing journey. 😀
Wow! That’s quite a few books!
Oh, I absolutely love this! Looking forward to Part 2!
And I’ve reviewed all the ones I’ve read:D Which are TCR 1-4, Graham Quartet 1-2, Home Fires, Gift From the Storm (my first book of yours), and Through the Tunnel (my favourite cover). I need to finish the two series though:D
20 years is so exciting!
Thanks, Lyds! It’s been quite fun looking back at what and when I published different books.
And thanks for the reviews! <3