I’m a woman and I write, but I don’t want to only write for women. The stories that I love have such broad ranges and appeal to so many different kinds of people that I crave to build eclectic audiences for my work as well. This can be trying at times.

My all time favorite book is Jane Eyre. It has much appeal for anyone with ovaries, but every man I know whose attempted to read it can’t stomach all of the feminine perspective. I call this factor, “too much vagina.”

Don’t get me wrong, some writers have a specific niche audience and write for one gender, sexual orientation, race, and so on, but that is not my aim. Sure when I feel the need to write a sexy romance story, I let the vagina flow. Some of my fantasy stories are made for women only as well.

But my recently finished sword and sorcerer story was made for everyone. Luckily I have a talented husband (the true writer of the family, though I have to push him to submit his work), who is willing to give me his take on the action and what not. He has gotten used to my philosophy and will let me know if I’ve slipped too much vagina into a story that is meant for more than just the ladies.

Balancing my male characters with the depth of my females takes a lot of patience. Drawing from my husband and those around me is helpful. With each story I try to convey the human connection, a concept that means a lot to me. Reaching out to the men and women in my stories and allowing them to touch real life people is what writing is all about for me.