Introduction

I haven't felt this nervous since the first day I stood in front of a class of middle school kids. Thoughts raced through my mind of why on Earth I had agreed to this insanity. Teaching, as life would have it, turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made in my life. I've had a blast teaching such a diverse group of students. There are days that they are the only reason I want to come in to work. I've taught social studies, language arts, math, science. No matter what I teach though, my true love will always be writing.

My intention as an undergraduate was to become a famous author. I was enthusiastic about my fiction and poetry, but it was the sharing it with the world part that got me. I loved writing, but was always so afraid of letting others read my work. It was as if I was giving people a piece of my soul to chop away slowly. I didn't like the feeling of being bare in front of all to see. For that reason, I left the majority of my stories and unfinished novels on my dusty bookshelf and inside my cluttered hard drive.

It's been seven years since I graduated with my creative writing degree, and only now have I decided to publish the works that I loved so dearly in my teens. They were very important stories to me as I grew up into a young adult. I would often go back to them and read them, wondering what on Earth I was thinking when I wrote them. I always remembered how I felt when I wrote them though, which made me think that maybe others would feel the same way when they read them.

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With my niece's support and the support of my family, I decided to compile my collection and publish them. I would have loved to have shopped the collection to a big publishing house, but that didn't have the immediacy that I was looking for. I wanted to have my collection in my hands as soon as I finished putting it together. For that reason, I decided to self-publish this collection.

That turned out to be WAY more difficult than I anticipated. Writing short stories is one thing. Designing
, formatting, and advertising are quite another. I have immense respect for the people that handle these things on a daily basis. They're geniuses. I did the cover design, interior formatting, and Oh! did I forget copy editing. More geniuses. I never realized how truly important all of these people are when it comes to publishing a book. They're just as important as the author if not more important because without them there is no book for the rest of us to read. Just a manuscript.

So it is my hope that my little book of short stories will serve to entertain you, if only for a while. Thank you for all of those who have supported me and encouraged me to continue.

I am currently working on a novel series that I believe is a great improvement from my work as a teenager. Let's hope that I can get that out to all of you soon.

Happy reading.