My name is Jessica. I’m a 32-year-old Medical Receptionist
with an insane passion for reading and writing. I married my soulmate at the
tender age of 19. This year we celebrate 13 years of marriage. Squee! We were
blessed early on with two wonderful children and our family is completed by two
fur babies. I have excelled in reading and classify myself as a bookworm. For
many years I have yearned to write, but ignored the yearning as I have a tendency to doubt myself. I haven’t written
since my daughter was born 13 years ago. I’m finally taking the leap with this
blog. Well.. Hop is more accurate in this case. I plan to eventually try my
hand at a novel or novella. We shall see.
Our mother fought with drug addiction for many years. Throughout
her struggle she had multiple arrests and did not think she was a good
influence for my sister and I to be around. She made a selfless decision to
allow us to live full time with our dad so we would have a more stable
environment. She was always honest with us about why she wasn’t around us so
much. This created a profound respect in me for my mother. We had quite a few
rough patches while living with my mom & dad. And they didn’t fully resolve
when they split up and my dad and step-mom got together. The issues were
similar, but better and worse at times. There is a lot more involved in
painting this picture, but that’s a story for another time as I realize I have
digressed a bit. My point is, these issues helped mold and shape me into being
the introvert that I am.
My love for reading began when I was an introverted
12-year-old in 7th grade. I remember being so offended the school
board had the audacity to enforce participation in Silent Sustained Reading.
SSR took place every day for about 20 minutes a day. Our teacher (or the school)
generously provided everyone with a copy of J.K. Rowling’s best-selling novel
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I remember being very underwhelmed and thinking
how boring the book would be. I also couldn’t believe there was a wrench thrown
in to stall my day. SSR felt like it froze time and caused a huge delay when
all I wanted was to hurry through classes and go home.
My attitude changed
very quickly. With every paged I turned, the more I delved into the characters.
The more I delved in the more I fell in love with their story. I had such a
vivid picture in my mind of everything I read I felt like I was part of the
story. I became invested in their journey. Instead of dreading SSR I began to
anticipate it. I didn’t want SSR to end. I felt like the time began to pass way
too quickly.
I finished Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone and needed
new SSR reading material. I asked my dad and stepmom to buy me the next book in the
series: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Funds were a bit tight so my step-mom,
an avid reader herself, suggested I borrow a book from her collection. She allowed me
to borrow A Thin Dark Line which is a murder mystery novel by Tami Hoag. Each
twist and turn of the suspenseful murder mystery was a revelation. There was a
puzzle I couldn’t wait to solve with each turn of each successive page. From
there my love for reading sprouted and grew.
My step-mom, Tania, enjoyed taking us on fun little excursions to distract us from some of the crappy things that were going on. She also enjoyed taking us out and did her best to find ways to deepen our connection and relationship. She succeeded! One of these excursions was a trip to Barnes & Noble. We browsed for hours. Aisle after aisle full of books! I felt like I was home. The smell of new books complemented by the scent of freshly roasted coffee. I was hooked! Barnes & Noble quickly became one of my favorite places, my second home.
Not too long after that, I discovered romance novels. I
still enjoyed the murder mystery novels favored by Tania, but developed a
special place in my heart for romance. As the days and years passed I read
every new Harry Potter book. Some of my favorite authors of the time included
Tami Hoag, Iris Johansen, Kay Hooper, Nora Roberts, Diana Palmer, Lori Foster,
Sandra Brown, and Elizabeth Lowell. I could go on..
Each book I read tells a unique story about the characters
inside of them. I love discovering those stories. One day I hope to share the
stories I hold inside of me. There’s probably a little bit of a psychological
root to why I love romance so much and that’s okay.
Part of my love for romance most likely stems from the fact that my parents didn’t have the greatest love story. It was messy and painful. But it was our journey. Each journey is different, but beautiful because of the lessons you learn about yourself and others. I hope to share some of that with our readers. Welcome to our blog!
Happy reading!
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