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Every time I begin to write, what should be simple soon becomes very complex. I can’t seem to help myself.
I love those expansive worlds, and creating explosive crises within them.
I explore how we would react to insane situations—which usually means my writing takes either a dark turn or a ridiculous and funny one. Paranormal and fantasy creatures often make an appearance specifically to defy all logic for a stubborn character, or they go ahead and take center stage in what I write.
(And who doesn’t love stories with vampires, demons, dragons, and creatures that go bump in the night?)
What turned me into the writerly monster that I am?
I grew up surrounded by real-world stories of demons, possession, and scarier things, and if I wasn’t devouring every book I could get my hands on, then I was exploring the woods while avoiding the water well that was rumored to have a witch at the bottom of it...Or I was hiding quietly from the dangers that actually lurked near every dark corner.
The shock others express when I over-simplify some of my experiences is still quite funny when I very casually list random things I've survived in my own life: "This scar? Oh, a dog tore my face open from mouth to ear. I still love dogs, though." Or, "Yeah, I lost a body part once, but being set on fire was way worse."
Life is very colorful, and you never know what you'll get to write about. True things, or complete fiction, or even somewhere between. What I love most about everything I have lived through is that I have developed an incredible imagination that just doesn't know how to stop. That serves me well as a writer.
My overactive imagination never settled for reading and writing alone, though. I created and sold art as early as age 10, and I tried to take on every new hobby I discovered while also lamenting that there was only one Me and never enough time in the day for everything I enjoyed.
The first novel I ever completed was in 2007.
THE VAMPIRE’S MEMORY KEEPER was 110,000 words long and was never published (for several reasons that nearly destroyed my sanity). With the next two books I completed in that series, I discovered one huge flaw: I am a massive overwriter.
Because the next two books were at 190,000 words and 210,000 words.
Around 2014 my focus changed to researching the craft and improving my skills.
The amount of information I consumed crippled my muse, so I took a break and I created an author critique group where for 6 years I taught and practiced the new developmental editing skills I’d acquired. Hooray! Who knew that classes helped...? (I do everything the hard way, and it’s just embarrassing.)
It was a very good thing my hubby was supportive of every bit of my craziness, because that helped me through every step. He's my hero.
In 2017, I made two insane and terrifying, DRAMATIC decisions.
I was fed up with rejections from the trad pub industry (over 80 rejection letters), and I wanted my dream of becoming a published author to come true no matter how hard it was to achieve. But I was not willing to release subpar works under my name. Instead, I decided I would scrap every bit of flawed writing so I could start fresh and go Indie.
There is nothing more difficult to a writer than tossing nearly a million words worth of books into the garbage while accepting the reality you don't have what the trad pub industry is looking for.
But the decision is one I have never regretted.
On December 31, 2020, I launched my Indie Pub company 7Bloodfire, LLC.
Then, on January 24, 2021, I FINALLY clicked the Publish button for my first official release: THE VIOLET CURSE (330,000 words long, true to form). Hoorah!
I’m incredibly proud of passing my first major milestone and am very grateful for all the support from everyone who has purchased my work and supported me as an author and an artist.
The series is set to continue to grow, with spin-offs, sequels, and other books that will all be tied to the same massive world.
Find out more about my journey (or about my books and art) by exploring my blog and my website.
To receive updates on Senna's books, sign up for her newsletter list by clicking here.