robertlee

Ava stirred beside me. After having our talk, I decided to just spend the rest of the night here. Going home wasn’t worth the struggle. Mom wouldn’t notice until breakfast anyway. Snoring softly as she tossed around, Ava cuddled close to me. I hadn’t been able to sleep. My mind wouldn’t stop racing. Her clock on the nightstand shone brightly in the dark room. 5:25. Ava’s warmth radiated through my body. I gently placed my arm around her. If only it would be this easy. Having a girlfriend

Hopefully it's not too nerve racking!

High school was over and one last summer stood between Trevor and Dustin's future. A summer they dreamed of for the last four years. Countless hours of planning and dreaming. A cross country road trip. Just the two of them and wherever the road may lead. But things were more complicated than that. Trevor was struggling with new feelings for his best friend. Feelings he can't quite figure out. Feelings that scared him shitless. Dustin was acting weird too. A shift in their friendship dynamic. They both knew something was up. Driving down the highway with no escape, will these two best friends survive their last hurrah together?

Surrounded by my laundry and self-doubt, I was falling into a pit of despair dreading Dustin’s arrival. My best friend for the last… well forever actually. The summer of our lives was about to happen. A summer we had dreamed of for four years now. Every moment of high school, in the back of our minds we dreamed and planned of our last hurrah. But now, all I wanted to do was bury myself in my clothes and wait for fall to rear its ugly head. Summer would be gone and I could go on without dealing

As most of my friends were graduating college and moving on with their lives, I was getting left behind. I couldn't afford to finish school and worked my life away. Every day waking up and doing the same thing. Go to work. Go to a second job. Go to sleep. Repeat. It was horrible and I started falling into a pretty dark depression. Writing was the one thing I could turn to that would make me feel happy. Make me feel like me again. Any free time I had I would try and write something. Many ideas came and went, just like all writers, but one idea stuck with me. A story about Patrick and his college experience. For months I wrote about him, his friends, his school, his loves. All these different stories making me feel nostalgic for college but helping lift my spirits. I fine tuned his adventures and compiled things into a neat little snippet of his freshman year. From move in day to the start of winter break. It wasn't half bad either. Something I rarely said about my own work. In those weeks, The CSU Stories were born. Most of my projects sit on a computer or notebook somewhere and are never seen again. It didn't feel right for Patrick to fade into obscurity though. I shared the story with my Mom. An editing queen and published author herself, she read the story and was not shy about leaving her remarks. At first I felt discouraged. Like maybe it was garbage that I wrote but then I got to the last page. She wrote a paragraph telling me how proud she was of me and how amazing the story was and would be after I finished the editing process. Something a Mother had to say. It spurred me on. I edited everything she marked and resubmitted it her. Round two of edits came down and I flew through them. Patrick was finished and ready to be something. What I didn't know. My Mom suggested I make it an ebook and I thought she was crazy. No one would want to read it. She pushed me until I finally did and in 2013, Patrick was released on Amazon. Four years later we worked together to make Patrick a paperback as well. It's been an amazing journey to this point but I'm proud of the work we did. Now almost six years since I started work on Patrick the next book in the series will be releasing on Friday! You can get Patrick on Amazon in either format at https://goo.gl/szVDR5

Thank you! Congrats to you as well. I'll keep going for my dreams if you do too!

My next blog post will do that. So keep looking for it very soon!

Since I was a little kid I've dreamed of being a writer. From the moment I learned how I just couldn't stop. Every scrap of paper I found I would write something on. Journals full of ideas, short stories, one liners, poems, songs, plays; everything you could imagine writing. I experimented with it all. Ten year old Robert even thoroughly researched (and exhausted the family printer) everything related to World War II in a failed attempt to write the next great war epic. It was a passion that stuck with me. Even when it was something I never thought I was any good at. Staring at the computer screen, reading things I typed up and laughing at myself. Cringing at the horrible dialogue. Noticing every single plot hole and poorly developed character. Beating myself up to the point I didn't want to do it anymore. Then something clicked. People in my life told me to go for my dreams. Work hard and make what you want to happen, happen. And I did. I kept writing. I kept learning. I continually put words to the page. Practicing the craft. Working towards that dream. Am I perfect? No. Do I have so much more to learn still? Yes. But what really matters is that I'm doing it. I'm writing and everyday getting closer and closer to my goal. Now at 28, I'm about to publish my second book through Amazon and couldn't be prouder of what I've achieved. I wanted to write this blog to not only talk about my books but to talk about the journey of writing and becoming a self published author. Without the people along the way that taught me what I know I would have never been able to do this. Maybe by reading this, someone else will get inspired to go for their own dream. Hopefully, I can help them on their journey.

I definitely understand that feeling. That's totally how I am too!

Hopefully she'll have that power!

Thank you so much. I'm very happy every time I see a comment from you about the characters. When I'm writing they are like my children and I care about them deeply. Thank you again for reading!

It seems like Bryan's body knows more than his mind does!

I walked down the street, not sure if I actually would end up at Ava’s house or not. My feet guided me and made their own way. A complete disconnect between body and mind. The rain had stopped and cooled the air. Everything looked new, fresh. Like the rain had wiped away all the impurities and imperfections and left a clean slate. I needed a rainstorm in my life. Some big event to change everything and give me a new start. A fresh perspective. Something… something like Rob kissing me. Ug

Hopefully he can beat this closet issue and you're right things really do get better!

Not trying to tease anyone. I've said it before some chapters come out short because its what the flow of the story needs. A short reprieve between action that sets up the next moment and gives us a glimpse into what Bryan is thinking. Thank you for reading!