Welcome to my Second Acts Series!

Today, we have Soul Mate author Brenda Stinnett sharing insights and advice gleaned from her writing journey.

Here’s Brenda!

I graduated from California State Univ. Stanislaus with a BA in psychology. I taught kindergarten for twenty-one years in California, but I’m now a Florida transplant and a full-time writer. I have to admit that I’m a late bloomer. I didn’t get my teaching degree until my mid-thirties. However, I started writing after my daughter was born in my mid-twenties. Once I started teaching though, I got distracted from my writing and focused mainly on my family and my teaching career. Of course, I don’t think this was a bad thing.

Once my daughter started the Air Force Academy, I found more time to focus on my writing, so I took Writer’s Digest classes and went to some conferences. I also subscribed to Writer’s Digest and Romantic Writers Report. Both of these magazines have helped me tremendously in my goal to a writing career.

In my mid-fifties, I retired from teaching and focused more on my writing. It seems once I reach midway in a decade that I decide to try a new direction. My favorite pastime has been traveling and I’m fascinated by history and the paranormal, so I combined those interests into my passion for writing.

I submitted my paranormal romance, “The King’s Vampire,” to Soul Mate Publishing and I was fortunate enough to get a contract with this great publishing organization. My latest novel, “Tenth Degree of the Paranormal,” veered off into strictly paranormal suspense, so I decided to try the Indie route with it.

Second acts in life are scary and I think persistence and courage are major factors when we want to change our lives. It’s important to avoid people who send out negative vibes and seek out supportive groups who encourage us in our endeavors. I’ve found the authors at Soul Mate Publishing to be some of the most helpful, generous people around. I think we just have to hang on to our dreams and make sure we actually know what it is we want to do. We need to break down our goals into small steps. If we take five small steps every day to achieve our long-term goal, I think we have a good chance of fulfilling our dreams. We need to take joy in every step of the process and enjoy the journey as well.

Blurb

Whether a hunch, intuition, or something more sinister, Barbara knew she had no choice. Self-deception was no longer an option—comfortable but not an option. She knew each denial she’d ever made left a scar on her soul, each more painful than the last.

An epic battle between good and evil pits a mother who struggles to deny her paranormal powers against a megalomaniac intent on world destruction.

Barbara Stevens has always struggled with her inexplicable powers. Her unwillingness to acknowledge her pent-up abilities has not stopped her young daughter Tiffany from exercising her own powers.

Recruited by a group intent on honing and harvesting these paranormal powers to create a super race, Barbara and Tiffany are soon kidnapped and held on an island off the coast of Russia.

Suspicion soon grows that Tiffany may, in fact, manifest the ten highest paranormal abilities of astral projection, aura reading, bio-energy transference, levitation, past life regression, precognition, spontaneous healing, telekinesis, and telepathy.

If proven true, Tiffany’s abilities will trigger an opening to the gates of hell. But can this descent into evil be stopped in time?

Where to find Brenda…

Website | Amazon | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Joanne here!

A fellow teacher and late bloomer, I found myself nodding in agreement as I read your post. Your advice is spot on. Thank you, Brenda, for sharing your inspiring story.