Hello fellow humans!
I figured a little intro would make a good first blog post. The crazy thing is, I write all the time, whether it be fiction or content writing for a client, and here I am, tapping my fingers on the tabletop, at a loss for words when it comes to myself.
Let's start with my Book Dungeon. That's the room in my basement where I keep all my books, reading chairs, a reading nook under the steps, my computer for writing/editing, my character board that makes me look like a detective...or the criminal, you choose, and where my four-legged meowing beast likes to spend her time.
And, of course, coffee and candles galore.
This is where I spend most of my time when I'm not taking walks through the local graveyard (I have very typical human reasons for this, I promise!), or staying up late in the kitchen talking about writing and reading and how sentences should flow with my best friend, or babysitting my abundance of nieces and nephews, or spending time with my family and friends, or pretending I'm as good at sports as I was in high school, or walking around Barnes and Noble 100% judging books by their covers.
What do I write? Well, that depends. The short answer is fantasy. The long answer is...I write about topics that are very real to most people and some that may seem foreign. I take everyday pains and joys and twist them into a fantastical realm where it feels safe to pull the emotions out and play with them, then put them back neatly on their shelf before bedtime. I write what's tugging at my heart. I write about that one nurse sitting behind a counter who I heard say she ate French toast today, so now all her money goes towards killing herself. I write about dragons and swords and guns and serial killers and murder mysteries and elves and people with strange abilities and morally grey characters and things that go bump in the night and redemption and light amid chaos and things that point to more. I write about pirates who have to decide when it's best to obey the law and when pillaging is the wisest course to take. I write about the things that are sometimes hard to talk about out loud but come naturally when facing off against an army of dwarves or when sitting in a cafe watching a girl disappear into thin air. Now and then, I'll crank out a poem or two. To narrow it down a bit more, I write contemporary fantasy, urban fantasy, dark fantasy, epic fantasy...all the fantasy my mind can handle. Maybe someday I'll stick to one sort of fantasy, but for now, I'm going where the wind takes me, which usually ends up someplace unusual. (I also do content writing, such as articles or short video scripts. Those are a bit less exciting to talk about, but they keep the lights on, which I'm very grateful for!)
What do I read? Loads of things. I love reading fantasy, but I also would kill for a good murder mystery or thriller or the occasional horror. Sometimes I like to kick back with a cute, clean romance novel and sip warm tea, or dive into a slice of life book and meet people who could be my neighbors. Other times I'll crank out a history book and learn from the days gone by. I love pulling open an old book and being swept away into a classic tale. On the more rare occasion, I'll board a spaceship and travel beyond the stars. I enjoy many things, and I love learning from them as well. Authors like Neil Gaiman, David Baldacci, Fredrik Backman, Charlotte Brontë, Sarah Sutton, JRR Tolkein, C.S. Lewis, Frank Peretti, Charles Dickens, and Micheal J. Sullivan, have stolen my heart.
What do I edit? I prefer editing fantasy, but depending on the type of edit, I enjoy editing almost any genre. The goal is to take the clay you've started with and help you mold it into a complete masterpiece, which sometimes means smashing it back into the blob it came as.
So, in a nutshell, that's me. Anne J. Hill. I hope you come back for more!