In the Dark Corners of My Mind...

When I was younger, I would write poetry often, trying to find a way to express what I was feeling without the anger, rage, sadness, and loneliness taking over. I want to start sharing these parts of myself. Maybe it's because I have found a peace in my past and am able to move on, I'm not sure. The first poem I want to share is one I had written when I was in a deep, dark place in my life. I don't want to give my interpretation of it, because I feel that is one of the best things about poetry. You are able to make it your own experience, feel it in a different way than others do. This poem is called, Bleeding Out.

Tashina Tradell owns copyright to the poem, Bleeding Out.

#poety #books #authorlife #creativewriting #creativeoutlet

Why I will never be a one genre author...

My favorite genre to read and write is Paranormal Romance, but that doesn't mean you will only get werewolves, vampires, witches, etc... when you read my work.

I am a very diverse person, and I love using my novels to escape everyday life. From the time I was in about Jr. High, I had a book in my face. Books were my escape from reality, and my reality was a tough one to be in.

I won't go into the details of my upbringing, but lets just say, there is a ton of emotion in childhood trauma, and to write a great book, you need emotion. With that being said, I seem to connect with the impossible, like magic and all, maybe because it is so far from the reality I had known in my younger years.

I've been told by so many that to be a successful author, you have to build a brand and stick to it, so your readers know what they are getting when they pick up your book. Well, I don't even know what I'm getting when I sit at the keyboard and let the words flow.

My current series is a NA Paranormal Romance Suspense, but I also have a coming of age, teen drama that I had written earlier in my career, Ashlyn's Luck. My seven deadly sins short stories, Oroxious and the Deadly Sins, are more real world setting, yet have a supernatural twist at the end, which will all tie into a Supernatural Suspense in the form of a full length novel in the not too distant future.

I have a High Fantasy/Fantasy Romance series in the works, as well as an Apocalyptic Zombie series. There are too many possibilities to stick with just one genre, and I think that many readers like more than one type of genre as well.

I am a busy person: writing, narrating, being a mom and a wife, and I don't have enough time in the day to stay on top of one social media platform, let alone trying to maintain multiple social media platforms and multiple pseudonyms.

So you will see many different types of books come from Tashina Tradell, even if I don't become successful. I will always write the story I feel I need to tell, not for success, but for the ultimate fulfillment of my minds journey.

#authorlife #paranormalromance #books #writing #narrating #audiobooks #multigenreauthor #creativewriting

The Chaos Of My Creativity!

Many may wonder where the ideas come from. How do you find time to write an entire book, let alone many? Well, there are many answers to these questions.

My ideas don't just happen by sitting down and thinking of one. On the contrary actually. I will be in the middle of something completely non-writing oriented, and suddenly an idea will spring into my mind like it had been hiding around a corner and all of a sudden, decided then was the time to approach my active thought process.

Some say to write down the ideas, outline them, or even just jot them down on pen and paper, so you don't lose the it. I have to quote Stephen King on this one, which may not be the exact words he used, but produces the same outcome: "If you can't remember it, it probably wasn't worth writing. A good idea will stick around."

For my books, the ideas come to me and just don't go away. I didn't need to write them down, because once an idea comes, I fall in love with it and it sticks to me like an experience.

So to answer the question, where do my story ideas come from? They come from everywhere. From my dreams, from random people I see, to a feeling I have at that particular moment, or an event that moved me.

Now finding time to actually write these stories is a challenge. I am an author, but I'm also an audiobook narrator, friend, sister, daughter, aunt, wife and above all, a mother. I will drop everything and anything to do what is needed for my children. Hence, why I ended up taking a very long hiatus from writing, which I had started just out of high school.

Being in my thirties now, I realize how important a career is, and how hard it is to establish. Now, I don't regret anything in my past, for every event and circumstance has led me up to this point in my life. I have learned so much as a writer over the years and I really do have a wonderful life. I do feel like a little piece of me had been stored away, up high and out of reach while I focused on everyone else in my life. That piece of me that I thought was so small, actually turned out to be such a huge part of what makes me, well, me.

This is the reason I am bringing my Heart of the Moon series back to life, and finally completing it. There is so much these characters had to do and say, and I feel that before I move on to the very many drafts that are sitting in my queue, waiting to have the same life and passion brought to them, I need to close this chapter first.

To find the time to do this is so very difficult, but I know that if I don't, then I will never fulfil the dream that has been lingering just out of my reach for so long. So I write when my older kids are at school, and in-between meals and sippy cup refills for the little, and of course a few snuggles too. I write on the weekends while everyone else in my house does their leisurely screen time. And I write at night when everyone has gone to bed, if I'm not in the middle of an audiobook contract that is.

While I produce audiobooks, my work has to be put aside, because there has to be a way to pay the bills and audiobook narration takes an extensive amount of time. It is a craft, and is not as easy as just being able to speak English as so many have portrayed it to be. The equipment is expensive, learning to edit and editing alone takes a ton of time, and being able to bring the characters to life takes experience and likely coaching. I am very grateful to have learned this craft, and I hope to be able to continue to bring the pages of fellow authors books to life while I tread on this journey of mine.

I do have to remind myself to take breaks and spend more time with my family.

It is difficult to not feel burnt out all the time. Life is not easy, and success is not given, it is earned.

#tashinatradell #heartofthemoonseries #amwriting #authorlife #paranormalromanceseries #newadult #werewolves #shifters #books