Monzella Smith 
Ill Fate [EPUB ebook] 

Being qualified to write a book can be based on two main areas. One being a college background or degree, and two, experience. I could go into the courses I have taken in college leading me to a degree. I could mention the fact that I took every English or composition course, writing course, speech and public speaking I could get my hands on. But I’d rather go the other route. I love writing. I love to read. I have read so many different types of books I’ve lost count.
Experience is a big thing in writing. I wrote many papers in college, most of which the professors kept for their other classes as examples of good and interesting writing. In reading so many books, I have picked up on different types of writing techniques and have questioned many people, from all age ranges, on what they like to read and what keeps them rapt in a book. I love science fiction, fantasy, and any story on the strange and unusual. Anything that defies the realm of reality draws me in and keeps me wanting more. Also, my interest in anime, brought on by my children, has opened up a door to more forms of writing and opened my mind to more “what is?” thoughts that I put in my writings. Writing, for me, is more than just a hobby or paycheck. It is a way of expressing oneself and, for me, a way to release. I started writing this book for the fun of it. Just to see where it would go. But it became more than that. It became a real living and breathing entity. It became a part of my life. As I wrote more and more, I couldn’t wait to see what the characters were going to do next or where they could go if I just stretch the possibilities a little.
An odd thing took place during my writing of this book. I started off, and from my mind’s eye, I began to build the location. I started describing the place—what it looked like, smelled like—put myself there, watched the story unfold. Once I was halfway through, my daughter suggested I use an actual location to make the book more real. She helped me research with just what I was picturing the landscape as, and bingo! We found the place that best matched what I pictured in my head, almost to a tee. I live and grew up in the small kind of unknown town of Elkhart, Indiana. If a person says, “Where’s that at?, ” I’d mention close to Notre Dame or the RV capital, and bing! the light cuts on. Elkhart hasn’t been much on the map of well-known places. I have six—yes, count them—six children ranging from age 20 to 3. They keep me on my toes and have been a big inspiration to my writing. Them and my fiancé/husband of fourteen years. My eighteen-year-old daughter, Amber, has mainly been the push, a character profile, and big help in my writing.