Farewell Australia

The last few weeks have clearly managed to grow wings and fly away from me, because I have no clue where they’ve gone.  Suddenly, I’m on the verge of saying goodbye to my old life in the corporate world and hello to my new world as a fulltime writer.  I’m 99% excited and 1% nervous, or wait…am I 99% nervous and 1% excited?  I’m not sure, but that’s the beauty of it (yes, I stole that line from Armageddon and sort of mangled it too).  In any case, my wife, Adele and I are scrambling to check off every little thing on our ginormous To Do List so we can feel prepared for the adventure ahead of us.

So what would you do if you were leaving Australia to take a two year jaunt around the world?  Yep, us too: We cuddled a koala!  Oh, and befriended a few kangaroos.  That’s right, we thrust off our proud status as locals of Sydney (Manly Beach to be more specific), and became tourists, spending a day at The Koala Park in the greater Sydney area.  You might ask what the heck I’ve been doing in the three years since coming to Australia.  My answer: I have no clue!  I hang my head in shame that I haven’t cuddled a kangaroo or hugged a koala until now, but you know what they say, better late than never.  So first was the koala (yes, they are every bit as soft as they look):

Then the kangaroos followed, although I think their end of the friendship was solely based on the endless supply of food we offered them:

All in all, I quite enjoyed being a tourist, which is good I suppose, considering Adele and I will be spending the next two years as tourists in many places we’ve never been before.  We’re sad to leave our friends and Adele’s family behind, but excited (or is it nervous) to start our new life and adventure.  Our last day in Australia is June 5^th (HOLY SHNIKES!), did I mention the days have flown away?

June will be my most exciting month as a writer, and not only because it will be my honest-to-goodness fulltime job, but because I have another exciting announcement!  But not for this blog haha!  I feel like Ryan Seacrest on American Idol saying “the Idol who will be leaving us tonight….will be revealed after the break.”  So tune in to my next blog post on June 1^st, when I’ll tell you all about my BIG NEWS!

In closing, farewell Australia; in your great country I have lived, found love, and followed my dreams.  I will always remember you and all of the friends I have made while under your care.  I hope to see you again soon.  As always, happy reading!! 

Life-changing News!!

This is it!  On Facebook, Goodreads and Twitter I’ve alluded that I had some BIG news coming soon.  Well, I can finally tell you all about it!  Starting on June 5^th of THIS YEAR, I will be a full time writer!  Needless to say, I’m ecstatic, over-the-moon, beyond excited, shaking from head to toe while jumping up and down singing Michael Jackson while juggling pineapples (I can actually juggle quite well but I expect pineapples would be difficult, though I have never tried).

So how did all this happen? you might ask.  Simple: my wife, Adele, and I decided it was the right thing for us.  Although we both have good, stable office jobs that pay the bills and give us something to do from 9-5, neither of us are that inspired by them.  So in the words of the Gladers from the book The Maze Runner, we said “Shuck it!” and decided to resign and pursue our dreams.  Mine is to be a full time writer, so that’s what I’m going to do.  As you all know, I’ve published three books, but I have another six written that I just haven’t had the time to publish yet.  My wife’s dream is to be a photographer and recently she’s decided to try her hand at writing too.  So while I let the many raucous, rowdy, sometimes sweet, and always interesting characters in my mind run amok on my laptop screen, my wife will be photographing and writing about our incredible journey around the world. 

What!?  That’s right, becoming a fulltime writer isn’t my only news.  For the next 2 years, we’ll be travelling around the globe (or at least the parts of the globe that fit within our slightly meager budget) seeking inspiration for our respective passions.  This is a chance of a lifetime for me and I am so so thankful that it is within my means to take this risk.  It helps that in only 18 months since starting my first book, Angel Evolution, I’ve had such incredible support from a growing base of readers of The Evolution Trilogy.  I want to make you all a promise: I will pay you all back by always striving to use my words to tell stories that will excite, delight, entertain, and create emotions in you.  Oh, and I might give away a few free books along the way too! 

The two years leading up to this decision have been the best of my life.  I met my beautiful Australian wife, Adele, who I somehow tricked (either with Jedi mind tricks or by rubbing my magic lamp—I tried both) into marrying me 8 months later.  She helped me make two key decisions: first, to leave the job in which I was overworked and underpaid; and second, to start writing my first book.  The new job gave me time and resources to write and publish my books.  The writing unlocked a whole lot of hidden creativity that a 7-year accountant turned risk officer turned author didn’t know even existed.  In short, Adele changed my life for the better in ways I never dreamed possible.  She did it through her advice, her encouragement; by her mere existence.  She is my everything and I am so thankful I will be sharing what we are calling Our Personal Amazing Race with her. 

As for all of you, I’ll keep you updated along the way and you can expect lots of new stuff from me, some of which might surprise you.  Here is a list of my writing goals for the next two years (because of my out-of-control OCD I’ll probably need to print out this list and check off each item as I achieve it):

1) Stay in touch with all of my amazing friends and readers on Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter.  My life is better because you are in it and I don’t take any of you for granted.  Don’t worry, I will continue to be the group greeter and excessive book cheerleader you’ve all come to know.

2) Publish the first book in my YA dystopian saga, The Moon Dwellers.  I told you all about it in my blog, Beta Reader Mania!, and I am so excited to publish it that I can’t wait to get it back from my copyeditor!  I cried while writing this book and some of my beta readers cried while reading it too—it’s by far the most emotion I’ve poured into any book yet.  Of course, it is also my goal to finish writing the other three books I have planned in the series. 

3) Publish my quirky YA paranormal, comedy, suspense (throw any other genres, barnyard animals, or household appliances that you want) novel, I Am Touch.  Two of the characters in this book are my favorite I have ever created.  I can’t take complete credit for them—I feel like they almost created themselves.  One of my beta readers claimed she was in love with one of them.  I don’t blame her, I’m in love with him too.

4) Publish my first Children’s series, Nikki Powergloves.  My beta readers (kids aged 7-11 and their parents) are currently reading my four books and the initial feedback has been incredibly positive.  I remember reading incredible books as a child and how happy they made me.  I hope my stories can do the same for kids all over the world.

5) Who knows!?  I don’t want to put a limit on what else I could achieve over the next two years, but I know it will be an exciting, unpredictable and life-changing ride.

See you all online and I can’t wait to see what you all think about each of my new books as I publish them!  Happy reading and as always, I LOVE to hear from you and promise to ALWAYS respond to your questions, comments, and messages.  You are the reason I write.