My, my. You’re a curious one, aren’t you?
Well, if you really want to know more, I’ll tell you . . .
I write what I call Stories that Bleed the Heart – dark paranormals with a twist. I aim for poignant and not depressing, though friends and readers affectionately dubbed me the Queen of Angst and I just own it. I am by no means a “dark” person, but I do love to write stories and characters that test the limits of what the heart and soul can endure. Paranormals provide the perfect backdrop for this, and I’ve loved all things supernatural for as long as I can remember. I grew up on classic and camp horror, with a touch of epic fantasy for good measure. I remember feeling special in grade school because I got to stay up late to watch Elvira. A little unconventional, maybe, but I’m pretty sure my mom did that on purpose.
Where most girls had piano recitals and Sunday school, I had protest rallies and Native American sweat ceremonies. I’ve feasted on freshly caught salmon cooked over a beachside fire by a Quileute Shaman (this was long before Twilight put La Push on the map, btw). I’ve bottle-fed a baby tiger and bunked on the Sea Shepherd. And even though I was baptized in Galway, Ireland (just in case), my “godparents” lived in a tee-pee in central Washington. I was raised to value all species, cultures, and opinions, but also informed (at a young and tender age) that Aries was the ruler of my emotions, so growing up was going to be rough and my mercurial nature (hello, Gemini!) could get me into some sticky situations.
Despite – or perhaps thanks to – my liberal upbringing, I think I turned out almost sane fairly well-balanced, although those who know me well would probably tell you I’m made up of contradictions. 
Philosopher and scientist, artist and tech-junkie. I’m a naturalist who can’t live without her iWhatever and Crackberry. A-student and quiet office lackey by day, goth vixen by night. An intellectual goofball and enlightened lost soul.
I wish I could tell you I had one of those “born to be a writer” pedigrees and composed my first novel with Alphabits cereal when I was 3. No such luck. I never liked English much, didn’t really read for fun. But I did often live in my own worlds.
In late 2006, I was still trudging my way through college (surprise, surprise, I couldn’t figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up). With my brain ready to explode under the pressure of memorizing bio-molecular metabolic pathways, I found solace in the sci-fi/fantasy section of Heaven on Earth Barnes and Noble. I dove headlong into one particularly notorious urban fantasy series (read the first 15 books over winter break) and when I reached the “end” I still wasn’t satisfied. Over the next ten months, I wrote four more books, completing the series in my mind. Yep – four WHOLE books – half a million words, to be exact. While working and finishing a B.S. Needless to say, 2007 is a blur for me. Once the epic-fanfic-endeavor was finished, I burst into 2008 (fueled by Red Bull – at once my divine inspiration and arch nemesis) ready to tackle the fiction writing thing “for real.”
Since then, I’ve been on the roller-coaster ride most of you probably know as The Quest for Publication. My writing process has slowed as I’ve studied both the craft of writing and the business of publishing (two very different animals). I still live in my own world most of the time – now I just create that world from the fossils up and write myself friends to hang out with and villains to smack down. I’ve kicked the Red Bull and rely on mochas and green tea instead. I can still be found at B&N or Starbux on most days, rocking out to The Moody Blues on the iPod, gallavanting through one of the fantasy worlds I’ve created.
Someday, when the stars align and I write the right story, land the right agent, and sell it to the right editor, I hope you’ll consider visiting.
~Gwen
