Guest Post with Jaime McDougall

Live to Write

When I tell people that I told stories before I knew how to write them, they often smile and nod in a 'that's cute' kind of way. The truth is, though, that I'm not exaggerating. Some of my earliest memories are of telling my cousins about the vast network of tunnels under the ground, where the KRSs (not sure, but it might have been because I didn't know how to spell 'curses') lived.

When I learned how to write? Life had never been better. From a one-page story about how my brother destroyed the earth with a taco fart to the wolf's side of the story in the Three Little Pigs, I never looked back. I explored the many worlds in my mind with wild abandon.

Writing quickly became part of my identity. If someone needed a pen or a piece of paper, I always had them with me. People accused me of my notebooks being safety blankets, but I knew the truth: I didn't want to miss a good idea.

Somehow I almost always managed to find jobs that afforded me free time here and there to write. I completed my first novel when I was twelve (and spent the next six years rewriting and tinkering with it). I finished my second when I was about fifteen. During the summer before my senior year, I accepted a challenge set by my drama director and wrote a play, which we put on stage that autumn.

Back then I would not have dreamed that I would have werewolves crash into my head so clearly one night that I had to grab a notebook. I wouldn't have dreamed that I'd take that initial scene and turn it into my first novel, a paranormal romance with characters I adore.

I feel grateful to be where I am now with the publishing world as it is. There are a lot of uncertainties, but it is a beautiful time for authors. With more options and more control than ever, authors have even more opportunity to shine.

To think, Echo Falls is only the beginning…

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Jaime McDougall is a citizen of the world, currently loving life in beautiful country Victoria in Australia. She loves eating sushi, kidnapping her husband and naming her pets in honour of science fiction authors. She has been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: High School: The Real Deal and Chicken Soup for the Soul: Campus Chronicles. She has also published two ebooks in the 'So You Want' series: So You Want to Write a Guest Post and So You Want an Online Book Tour.

Echo Falls is her first paranormal romance novel and is available on Kindle, in print and at Smashwords. You can visit her website at InkyBlots.com