Since I was a young girl, writing has always been my escape by either writing short stories or poetry, as it allows me to escape reality for a short while and focus on the task at hand; writing something worth sharing.

I have tons of ideas that I continually make notes on, but nothing is set in stone yet.

Due to our circumstances, losing our only child, and our openness about our grief journey, I have become someone that folks call when they find out someone they know has lost a child. I do my best to reach out and help wherever I can and I have been told several times that I should write a book based on our experiences of knowing what helps and what does not, as well as what to expect at certain times in the journey. So, my next book may be on the grief journey.

Another project could be a guide to help couples learn to share their love in writing with each other.

I guess it just all depends on what feels right at the time.

Kristin Hannah, Nicolas Sparks, Jodi Piccoult, and many others.

I am very blessed to have a huge support system beginning with my husband, my parents, and my sister, as well as several family and friends and I honor each one of them individually anytime I have the opportunity to do so. As far as "fans," I'm not sure I have those yet, but if/when I get some, I'll treat them with the same love and respect I do my family and friends.

Since losing Dalton, we struggle to get out of bed every morning. We have found that we do best by scheduling appointments in the mornings (meaning someone is depending on us to show up somewhere), which then keeps us moving throughout the day.

My husband and I have always been hard workers; physically and mentally, but since we've lost Dalton, we tend to stay busy about 16-18 hours a day as down-time is not good for our minds and hearts. We're told that will calm with time. We'll see... Since 1995 I've been in the mortgage, closing, and real estate business, so I am always busy as a REALTOR®, a contract closer, and a notary for title companies. I also run the business side of my husband's remodeling company and help him with grunt work like caulking and grouting. For fun, we ride ATV's, camp in our fifth wheel with our dog, Dax, and see family and friends as often as possible.

I've never read an e-book. I like having the physical book in my hand.

Not the first one, but I do remember an essay I wrote called "Angry Tears." It was a true story about the feelings I went through when I was losing my best friend to drugs and alcohol.

Setting a scheduled time to write is extremely beneficial for me as I am a huge multi-tasker and can get caught up doing several things at once, when I should be focused on writing. I started by taking Fridays off work and using those days to solely focus on writing, not allowing myself to answer the phone or emails or work on anything except writing. Since the books have been released, I don't schedule Fridays for writing anymore, but should I choose to write another book, I will set a specific schedule.

I also started my outline on a spreadsheet (I love spreadsheets!) where I had columns for chapter titles, topics to discuss within that chapter, pictures or visuals I thought needed to be included, songs that helped me think of those topics, etc. If I were writing a fictional story, I would use the spreadsheet to show characters, traits, and timelines.

I also find it helpful to keep my phone or a notebook with me at all times (especially at night) so I can record any thoughts I have that may turn into something later.

To anyone writing, I would also recommend that you NEVER delete or throw out anything you have written. It may not fit what you're working on now, but could fit well into something in the future. You just never know...

Cover design was extremely difficult for me, maybe because I wanted it to be/mean so many things in honor of our son.

My coach asked me to go through photos of bestsellers in my genre and that was too overwhelming for me, therefore not helpful. It gave me too much information, so I just opened MS Publisher and played with different ideas. What we ended up with, even after the designer got it, was very similar to what I'd come up with on my own.

I decided to break it down into sections...
Who is my reader? Would they relate more to photos or bright colors or something else? I figured that parents would relate more to photos.
Did I want a photo for the background, a graphic, or just color? I chose a background photo with a lot of significance to me.
Did I want a photo for the foreground, a graphic, or just color? I chose a photo with significance to me, but also thought other parents would relate.
Did I want other photos? I tried, but decided too many photos made it too busy.
What colors were most important to use? Purple was Dalton's favorite color, but what would I use with it?
How many fonts did I want to use and how would they be different?
I think this all depends on the type of book you've written. If it was fiction, I probably would have done a scene from the book.

Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah as it got me into reading again. Her descriptions and writing made me feel like I was right there with the characters.

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson. This book was extremely well-written and one that Dalton and I read together when he was 10 years old, both feeling full emotion, both crying terribly when the unthinkable happened. (I would recommend skipping the movie, though.)

Sammy Keyes series by Wendelin Van Draanen. Wendelin is such a terrific writer. This series came out just in time for Dalton and I to read each book together every year as he grew and gave us some fun reading memories and spurred some great conversations. In fact, Dalton decided he must have fresh salsa on his mac and cheese after learning about it from Sammy Keyes.

The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman is a great read for all couples, especially those struggling with communication. I give it to anyone I know getting married.

Not sure about the 5th one... have to think on that one... maybe my own, Parenting At Your Best, as it brought out so many lost memories after Dalton died and it has been a huge tool in our grief journey, both in writing it and re-reading it over and over.