Welcome to my blog!

Let’s start off with a nice get to know me blurb. I wanted to start blogging a while back because social media wasn’t my thing. I enjoyed sharing things, but felt discouraged when my posts would miss my audience. So I figured I’d try blogging on my website where my audience can find me. I plan to discuss topics ranging from project updates, writing advice, books I’ve loved, and many more.

But no matter the topic, I will always start my blog with an update of whatever I am working on, so here is this first update! 

Right now, I’m working on a secret project that I will explain more below. But I have finished the first draft and am on the initial editing stage which I call the “Yellow Draft.”

Okay, now onto the main topic.

I grew up in humble Boise, Idaho and have spent my life daydreaming and exploring different worlds. My writing began early when I would create Sonic the Hedgehog comics. Yes. I still have them, and maybe you can see them. This evolved into me writing scripts of movies and shows I enjoyed and even making my own video games. Who knows, I could’ve ended up working for PlayStation to create their fantastic story-driven games. Anyways, this halted in high school when I became too busy with high school things, which then became even worse in college. 

I originally went to school to become a forensic scientist, but the labs were way too brutal. Then I switched to something similar…teaching! I ended up earning my degree in Elementary Education and Special Education and nailed a teaching job in 2020. (IFKYK) I realized with an adult job and no homework anymore–except teacher homework, which IS a thing–I had more time for hobbies. So I explored reading again and read over 100 books. In the meantime, I fell in love with the fantasy genre. (Thank you Throne of Glass, Six of Crows, and Mistborn) This propelled my interests to another realm. Writing!

With all the writing I had done in the past, I attempted to transfer the skills to my adult self. Research was not in my vocabulary, so I just started plotting and writing…and I had a blast! Although my skills were lackluster, I didn’t know it. I felt renewed, finally having an outlet for some of my feelings. I decided then I wanted to do this full time. Spoiler alert, three years later and we still aren’t there, but that’s what goals are for!

I finished the first draft of a novel in 2021, ready for it to meet the world…boy, was I wrong. I did some basic proofreading steps, of course forgoing developmental and line edits. In which I happily sent it to Beta Readers! AKA, some of my closest friends. 

Guess how that turned out?

With no surprise, I had a lot of work to do. It also didn’t help that teaching started to rear its ugly head, forcing me to exit stage right. So I pushed myself to study harder, buying all the books and taking all the classes I could on the writing craft. I felt like I was getting pretty good, but I still had much to learn.

I had been working on a story for a little over a year and decided the world needed to read it. That was when I Indie published, A Flower Amidst the Flames. I had originally pitched it to agents, but as predicted, it came with rejection after rejection. I lost patience, feeling hopeless. I wanted the world to read this story and not have it locked in a vault! So, I did more research than ever and made that book ready to publish, spending way too much money and expecting it to be my golden goose. 

Shockingly, that didn’t happen. Indie publishing is no joke and I envy those who do it well. I tried to save money with corner cutting and ended up diminishing the initial quality of my story. I have since improved some things and am still proud of my first book. I hope you have enjoyed it too.

I wrote the sequel pretty quickly because Indie authors need a constant stream of books or we disappear into the abyss of many other talented authors. So, I rushed again, but felt I had a better understanding nonetheless. 

Afterwards, I started on my third book in the series and then asked myself, do I really want to keep doing this? My favorite part about writing was…well, the writing. All the other things felt like a chore. The marketing was fine, but every post or reel felt like a desperate attempt at going viral. I felt like I was annoying with little results. I was drained. My most successful methods were paid advertising but that was also expensive.

 But I never stopped writing. I never stopped creating new stories and writing many first drafts. I kept getting better and better. Brandon Sanderson says you have to write a certain number of bad stories to get better, and trust me, I have written plenty of those. But that’s the beauty of writing. Each draft can always improve.

Rest assured, I am not quitting my series, but taking a step back to focus on what I want. I have the patience and grit now to make it in traditional publishing and I hope this current story will get me there. And if not, I will try the next and the next. I keep referencing Brandon Sanderson, but seriously, his lecture videos on writing changed the game for me. He said you may not become a full-time author, but as long as you have fun, keep doing it. I’m only twenty-seven. With so much time to achieve my goals.

In regards to my next project, I can’t wait to share more. It is still fantasy, but venturing more into the adult/high fantasy realm. I love YA, but I find adult literature has the freedom to explore more themes that I have experienced.

For now, I’m not going to say anything else about it, so enjoy my cryptic posts about it. I plan to share snippets of my publishing journey along the way.

Thank you for reading the entire thing! I hope you enjoyed the first entry to my blog. I don’t plan on having these be as long, but I needed to lay the groundwork of well…me. If you enjoyed this, I encourage you to follow me on social media and sign up for my newsletter. That way, you can see first-hand what I’m up to. Social media tends to bury posts frequently from followers, so my newsletter is the best way to get information. Also, I plan to offer fun exclusives for just my subscribers, so that’s fun. 

Be well, and continue to thrive in your endeavors. 

-Brett