My Goals As A Writer...

My Mission Statement:

I will be professional, realistic, and use my skills as a writer and human being by engaging myself in acts of service, as I define them, and always be willing to grow, adapt, and learn.

My writing career goal:

Write meaningful literature for children.

On my path to reach this goal I will:

1. Continually seek knowledge.
2. Learn and listen to the opinions of industry professionals and critique peers
3. Read books on the writing craft and incorporate the information into my personal AUTHOR'S VOICE
4. Read  books in the genre/age group I am writing for
5. Never be discouraged by the process of re-writing.

My purpose as an author is:

To let teens know they are not alone, by showing my characters have the same emotions and experiences as they have; although, my readers may not handle their problems in the same way. Hope is universal.

• There are so many authors I've grown to know and love as I read their novels because I bond with the struggles of their characters. God Bless Sarah Zarr and her accurate portrayal of dysfunctional families, or Jacquline Woodson and her sincere glimpses into an inner city kid's experiences, or Ellen Hopkins taking me into the emotional state of her characters as they process their life experiences and figure out why they want to live. Each one of these books and about a thousand others by just as wonderful authors that offer HOPE to their readers. 

I want to reach teens when they are ready to read/hear my message. For me this is now, but for some future teens it may be ten years after my book is published. I want the experiences of my characters to live forever. In each generation of youth, someone, somewhere will/has felt the way my characters feel.

• An example of this is in the classic John Hughes movie The Breakfast Club. I loved this when I was a teenager, and last night my fourteen-year-old daughter and I watched the movie on DVD. Although there were no smart phones and IPads when the movie was made, the human experience of the five characters touched my daughter as much as it did me over twenty-five years ago. 

THIS IS HOW I WANT TEENS TO EXPERIENCE MY NOVELS.