TIPS FOR WRITERS | WORKSHOPS
My writing journey is a very common tale. I fell in love with stories with fairy tale books and movies. I fell in love with books when I could read fast enough to not need my parents’ help. I fell in love with writing when I won an award in 4th grade for an essay contest. Then I started writing. All. The. Time. Short stories mainly. Horror, believe it or not, and fantasy of course. Somehow romance–which I read voraciously starting about age twelve–managed to creep into them all.
I quit writing for a bit in high school when teasing and peer ridicule stopped me. But I didn’t stop reading. In my twenties, I started probably 20-30 romance novels and never finished one. Something about the middle of the book always arrested my momentum. But then I had a baby when I was 30, and while on maternity leave, I wrote and finished my first book. BLUE VIOLET!!!
It was a learning experience.
It went “under the bed” for a few years until 2012. I had two babies at that point under the age of four. I was working for Intel full time, regularly putting in as many as sixty hours. I was also in the middle of getting my MBA. And I decided that would be a good time to find a good editor (I did!). I learned a ton, made that first book significantly better (also learned to LOVE the editing process), then self-published that final, finished book.
10+ years since finishing that first book, I am blessed to have both a supportive family and the ability to stay at home and do this full time. I have worked my tail off to become a better writer–something I never stop trying to do. Somewhere along the way I have been lucky (and again lots of hard work) to find an agent I adore and work with editors and publishers and other amazing writers who help make my books the best versions of themselves.
I am now a multi-award-winning hybrid author who has written 35+ novels/novellas/short stories under 3 pen names with more to come. Many more if my luck and the hard work hold out. I am also the owner/operator of Authors On A Dime, a company which provides services to help other writers. I love every part of the publishing journey and consider myself damn lucky to be living out my dream every day.
Kadie Scott | Contemporary Romance Author 