After writing, children’s, erotic romance, fantasy, horror, sci-fi, and fiction I’ve come back to my non-fiction roots and am featured in this baby!
It feels good to be a part of such a well-known collection. Anytime a story is published it gives me the boost I need to keep going, but having a part of your life shared with a wide audience really puts the job in perspective.
No matter how annoying I get, no matter how often I stick my foot in my mouth or overshare (it’s horrid-like a disease I can’t control), someone out there is listening. Someone might need guidance and my ridiculous little stories-fictional and real-might just offer a glimmer of hope to someone who feels the weight of the world.
People often put too much pressure on themselves. We live in an age of too much information-much of it being false or promoted with negativity for the sake of publicity. The writing market is more competitive than ever, so being accepted as a part of this means more than my imagination can match.
Genre hopping often leads to floundering careers. People expect a certain hook or a shtick so they can better categorize and box you up. It’s dreadful for a glitter-sparkle-nonsense-bug like me. It can be confining, but that is the business side of the industry; isolating your best area and focusing on that.
There will be more non-fiction from me. I have loads of stories (and don’t worry, some are funny and a LOT less tear inspiring than the one in this book-my plan is to focus on those because I do not enjoy wallowing in sorrow).
I have had some non-fiction novel ideas cooking and even a few outlines since my first release. One is semi-finished. (It needs LOADS of editing haha)
But do not despair. If you like my kooky spec-fic, I’ll always play with it. And children’s books are something I can’t avoid. My kids would kill me if I stopped trying to publish the stories I make up for them when we’re out wandering the woods.
Jessica Marie Baumgartner 