I am blessed to have an abundance of wonderful and truly amazing people in my life. Among them is my dear friend, Jennifer Niven, author of the four-novel Velva Jean series as well as non-fiction books The Ice Master and Ada Blackjack. She also wrote a memoir, The Aqua Net Diaries, about her adventurous and often hilarious high school days in Richmond, Indiana. Jennifer is not just an incredibly gifted writer, she is an amazing person, so please take the time to check out her website and show your support.

Now to the fun stuff! Jennifer has graciously invited me to write an article or two for her website, while at the same time encouraging me to post a few on my own. The focus is on what it’s been like writing my first novel, as well as the process (and angst) of being a writer in general. Toward that end, I have already written four blog posts, two of which will  appear directly on Jennifer’s site, and two more which I will post here and hopefully re-blog on Jennifer’s site sometime down the road.

To kick things off, I’m posting a piece I call ‘The Pool,’ talking about the process of visualizing characters and telling their stories. I hope you enjoy it. If so, be sure to check out Jennifer’s site later this week where we’ll be posting the first piece I wrote for her called ‘Writers Write,’ in which I recount powerful questions brought up during a novel-writing class three years ago and the new questions I find myself asking now.