Interested in paranormal romance and persistence-pays stories? Visit the Snarkology blog for an interview with Maureen L. Bonatch.
Her path to publishing began in childhood, with a private, ongoing tale about a girl who could talk to animals. After submitting the story as part of a junior-high assignment, Maureen was crushed to get it back covered ‘the dreaded red markings’. She set the daydream aside.
Maureen came back to her storytelling dream with gusto eight years ago: taking classes, honing her writing skills, and learning as much about the business of writing as possible.
She says:
“I’ve since grown a much thicker skin, and now anticipate the red markings to make the story better, but I can’t help but wonder if that teacher hadn’t been a little bit more encouraging if I would’ve found the courage to seriously pursue my writing sooner.
So when my twin daughters starting writing their stories in elementary school…I praised them, encouraged it, and told them their stories were wonderful. Sure they might have plagiarized a bit in the stories they wrote at age seven or eight, but they were good and they’ve gotten better. They’re thirteen now and actively write short stories as well as Percy Jackson fanfiction on Wattpad. When they tell me they want to be writers, I tell them they already are.”