MembreErinDurante

I grew up in San Diego, California, and am still here to this day. Went to college, lost several semesters as I couldn’t decide on what to do, and finally gave up trying to be something I’m not by picking a “traditional” career such as teaching or business, and set my sights on my love for writing.

I worked my way through school as a freelance airbrush artist, painting wall murals in large estate homes and touching up bad paint jobs on dirt-encrusted, lifted trucks. I got a clerical job filing paperwork and editing emails, when my boss took an interest in my technical writing skills and started having me work on more important business letters and legal documents, and soon was able to work completely from home on my computer writing ad copy and working on government contract forms.

Well…three years later I finally forced myself to finish a story for my final English requirement, writing the entire first draft of Damewood in a four month period. Sloppy, rushed, and lacking the depth of characterization Nadia and Vestro had in the dusty corners of my brain, I was hoping to just pass so I could graduate and move on. I was deligtfully surprised when the professors hailed my project as unique, entertaining, and “definitely publishable.”

Needless to say, that changed my direction. I graduated, got married, and cut work hours back to part time so I could dive into the edits of Damewood (at that time titled The Knight in Pink Lace… yes, thank God for editors and their insight) and then started submitting around like crazy. Many rejections and disheartened nights later, my novel finally found a home when I took on a position at Leucrota Press. I managed to pass the novel along when I first got hired, and after being relentlesslu pushy to the point of nearly being fired (twice) my manuscript landed into the hands of the editor, and well… here I am.