Alligator Blood is LIVE & I’m officially a published author

I get a lot of random book ideas at the most inopportune times and try my best to store them in my notes on my phone when I remember them. For some reason, my best ideas hit me in the shower, my dreams, and my weekly staff meeting at work (oops). I’ll have shampoo dripping over one closed eye while I tap out a horror plot twist to a story that doesn’t yet exist, or I’ll get cut off on the road by someone that I’m convinced is the embodiment of an antagonist I have to write.

For Alligator Blood, it was simple. I know a few older ladies that are mean to the bone, I love the movie “Rounders” (my impression of Teddy KGB is well-practiced), and I adore a good unhinged FMC that doesn’t initially present as dangerous. The first scene that I wrote for this was the moment Clif opens the trunk. I was in the shower and a moment flashed in my mind of a woman laughing hysterically with blood dripping down her face and into the cracks of her teeth. I watch a ton of horror, so random images like this are no stranger to my ADHD subconscious mind.

Once I fleshed out that one scene, I waited for the rest to come. Over the course of a few more weeks, things pieced themselves together. From screenshots of aesthetics to songs to places I drive past on my daily commute, Clif and Sonnet became more solid in my mind. Their ages came quickly as well, as I’m about to turn 40 and I wanted a character that people like me could relate to - a sassy reader that doesn’t want kids and has an abrasive wench of a mother (oops, overshare).

When it comes to plotter and pantser - I am ALWAYS a plotter. After character sheets (I’m a Dungeons and Dragons player, so I’m no stranger to full backstories and character development planning), choosing my dream casting, and creating a soundtrack, I usually sit down and write the main plot points. Once the main scenes I already know are on the outline, I go back and figure out how I get from each one to the next. Finally, I go back and add more details between those points. What I’m left with is a full chapter by chapter outline that I ignore for a few days so I can come back with fresh eyes and read the whole thing to see if I still feel the same way about it.

This is the point where I sit my husband, Mike, down and make him listen to the entire outline/story as I tell it so he can tell me if the flow makes sense. I then repeat this step with my best friends. If all is well, the drafting begins and is followed by several rewrites, beta readers, ARC readers, and sensitivity readers as needed.

From start to finish, Alligator Blood took me about 6 months nonstop (writing daily), but it would have been a lot more painful without my fellow friendly authors to give me advice and answer my questions. I learned SO MUCH from fantasy author, Sienna Harlow, who has a wonderful romantasy called “Crown of Ellova” (shameless plug for her because she deserves it).

I’ll never forget the feeling of refreshing the page on Amazon to watch my debut novel go live. I’ll never forget seeing my very first reviews posted. I’ll never forget the kindness of the book community sharing my posts and interacting. This blog will have a lot of info, mostly because I’m a chronic overshare queen, but I hope it’s helpful or interesting. Thank you for reading and good luck to you if you’re writing your first novel too!