Sample of my Writing in High School

I've been doing some spring cleaning lately.  Because, it is after all, Spring. FINALLY!

One delicious discovery I came across was a file folder filled with old writing assignments.  In a moment of pure lunacy, I've decided to share one of  them, in all its glory
.  Enjoy!

~ P.S. Remember, I was still a novice. And this was high school (9th grade).  Have mercy!

My Bedroom

(11/18/90)

As you walk into my bedroom you see a revolting pigsty that looks like a parent's worst nightmare.  My bed is trapped in the corner of my room by a set of old blue bunk beds ominously waiting for someone to bump into them during the middle of the night.  Clothing surrounds the bed except for a narrow pathway leading from it, two feet wide, and cleared so that no junk will be stepped on in the middle of the night.  With shadows that overwhelm the corner, the variety of colors and textures from pants, shirts, and underwear, socks, coats, skirts, and sweaters appear to be a blob piled halfway up to the ceiling. Shirts sleeves and pant legs infest the edges of the bed where they hang lifeless, waiting to be put away.  Papers from previous assignments suffocate unnoticed under the weight of the clothing.

At the foot of the bed the majority of the ghastly mess becomes bunched up and wrinkled.  Another blob consisting of a baby blue, fuzzy, electric blanket and a light blue quilt, with tiny white flowers covering the top of the quilt, infest the middle of the bed. Resting at the head of the bed lies a lone, white teddy bear.  The only splash of color it carries is his red paws and matching red bow-tie with dots of silver sparkles.  A grey, overstuffed pillow sits under the teddy bear. Next to the pillow, my red, blue and white baby blanked with holes worn through it as an attempted sewing job along its edges - performed by me before I knew how to sew - waits to be snuggled during the night. As you walk out of the room, you look back at it and shudder to think that any form of life could exist in there.

The Mystery Behind My Name

Butch and Susie

Right now, I'm simultaneously submitting my Contemporary YA novel, Unleashed! to literary agents and publishers, editing Courting Disaster, and co-authoring Define Normal with three of my sisters.

A current topic for me and my sisters is my name.

If you asked my mother how she and Dad chose my name, she would say it was because her childhood nickname was Susie.  Her brother's nickname was Butch.  So her parents would call them Butch and Susie.  Mom said her nickname never stuck when she grew older, but she always loved the name, and therefore wanted to name one of her daughters Susan.

If you ask my father, the story is considerably different.  He wanted a daughter named Susan Age. That way, he could nickname her sewage.  And that, my friend, is my father's humor in a nutshell.

To add a another dimension of interest, here's a crazy little fact:  My middle name is Lee.  Lee is my father-in-law, my mother-in-law, and brother-in-law's middle name.  Needless to say, they welcomed me with open arms when they realized I, too, was a Lee!  But wait! It doesn't stop there. One of my daughters married a boy whose last name is Lee.  His grandfather, and my father-in-law are cousins!

Somewhere, somehow, we are related. Don't worry. My daughter was very thorough about making sure she wasn't too related before she married.

In my next blog, I will begin discussing the significance of specific character names in Unleashed! You'll learn who the characters are named after, and why I chose them. Starting with the main character, Aleasha Summers.

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*This Blog was cross-posted on the CrazyCadySisters blog located at http://crazycadysisters.blogspot.com/

Unleashed is Finished and Ready To Publish

I have finally put the finishing touches on my Contemporary YA Novel, Unleashed!  

Unleashed!
    Black Widow meets Mean Girls.  

Here's the blurb for the book: 

17-year-old Aleasha Summers was groomed to become a spy and never even knew it. That is, until her family died in a car accident and the Agency sends a handsome agent to collect her.

Tasked with infiltrating a high school and its seedy underbelly, Aleasha finds herself caught in Cecelia’s cross hairs.  But Cecelia is no ordinary high school bully. She's a child of the Mexican Mafia hell-bent on controlling the city and destroying Aleasha in any way she can.

When her boyfriend, her family, and Agency members are kidnapped, Aleasha must take on the Mafia to save her new spy family and the family she has come to love, or lose them and leave the city helpless against the Mexican Mafia’s reign of terror.

Interesting Facet #1:  Aleasha Summers is modeled after a girl I actually know. The girl ON THE COVER!  

There's so much to tell; so many tidbits to include about Unleashed!  And I'm so excited to finally be able to share them!  So take a moment, sign up for my newsletter so I can let you in on the secrets too. By the time Unleashed! completes the publishing process and is on the shelves, you'll feel like you already know her.  I guarantee you'll love her as much as I do. 

And, if you want to read the first five pages, head on over to my Website, and download them!