Today we’d like to introduce you to Valerie Willis.
Hi Valerie, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
Life is unpredictable. Despite some wild high and low moments, I’m still writing, publishing, and sharing what I learn every chance I have. You may or may not know me. No, I’m not a best-selling author (yet) and I don’t have a movie or Netflix deal (yet). Yes, I’m an award-winning author when I do enter into the contests that exist out there, but the question really is: what make my story so unique? If I had the money and a calmer chain of events in my life, I would be a best-selling writer and have achieved a lot of life goals a lot sooner, but life isn’t a straight path for most of us. Let’s be ambitious and honest. Sometimes we stray from our path and don’t notice or realize we’ve changed trajectories at all. I’m a sixth-generation Floridian (on the same road in Winter Garden!) who, through a series of unfortunate events, discovered her calling to write, publish, and create books. In fact, the amount of tribulation I have faced in my life, and even now, makes me painfully aware that I have a fortitude like no other. We’re talking about childhood depression and verbal abuse to being pregnant with cancer ground-shaking events. At the end of the day, I can say that I’m too stubborn to quit the dreams I have aspired to since I was little.
My heart is a lush for mixed genres that carry a lot of the values from genres like paranormal romance, dark fantasy, dark romance, epic fantasy, mythology, historical fiction, and even memoir. Like many of my fellow writers, I did a lot of writing and doodling in my younger years. The most profound was a filled composition book in fifth grade. During this time, I faced deep depression between the bullying in school and at home. My mother didn’t approve and pushed for me to be a doctor or a lawyer, I never stopped. I can’t tell you how many times I heard “Reading is dumb” or “Stop being such a nerd” from her mouth. Not everyone has the endurance to watch their journals and creations tossed in a trashcan (lit on fire the one time) while ordered to stop writing and drawing—and still keep going. Perhaps this was my unique way of being rebellious. If only I knew being an historian was a legitimate occupation, the world might have missed out on this bookworm completely.
One of my favorite genres to read growing up was fantasy, more specifically, fantasy that is dark in tone and filled with paranormal and mythology elements. Add in a sprinkle of historical references and I am SOLD. It has always amazed me how authors create such wonderful worlds and stories with such depth. At times, I feel like I’m giving back what those authors gave to me: an adventure and escape when life seemed dreadful, a lesson I didn’t know I needed through a life not my own. My early reads circled between three authors: C.S. Lewis, R.L. Stine, and Lewis Carroll. Later, this evolved to include Robin McKinley, Cat Adams, James Clavell, Anne Rice, and Neil Gaiman. Before I stumbled on these wonderful authors, I had only read non-fiction books about drawing or animals (outside of the mandatory readings assigned by my elementary school teachers). Needless to say, I read every Zoo Book the library had, sometimes twice.
A few books rattled me on a personal level as I hid in my closet at night reading these in hopes of not being caught. Yes, I was punished often for reading and it came to a point where I used to hide smaller novels inside a Bible so I could read without fear of being grounded or having the library book ripped to shreds and tossed. It only worked for so long before I was not longer allowed to check out books because teachers and staff simply couldn’t fathom my mother had damaged the books and they weren’t going to take my saved-up lunch allowance to replace them without a parent’s signature which left me no choice but to change my habit to spending copious amounts of my free time at libraries, bookstores, or even friends’ houses reading the books available there.
From there, like many of my generation, I dove into R.L. Stine’s famous Goosebumps series, but I have never enjoyed horror books beyond this scope. That doesn’t mean I didn’t read the genre, trying out Stephen King, Michael Crichton, and others. I even found there was a specific type of horror that leaned into the dark fantasy realm. And yet, I still continued the search for my genre. It didn’t take long to find C. S. Lewis and Lewis Carroll who showed me fantastical worlds that were just beyond the wardrobe or rabbit hole. These were wonderful, delightful reads, but something was still missing. Soon, I discovered another genre through James Clavell, historical fiction, where I realized that amazing fictional stories could stay true to the events and settings around them. This discovery spiraled into a search for something that blended the two genres. It was like a scavenger hunt, and I aimed to satisfy all my wants in a good book.
With my freedom and adulthood, I began creating a collection and once more could safely have books at the ready. Discovering Elizabeth Kostova’s The Historian opened up the door and added something new. The enjoyment I received from reading a paranormal story heavily involving the history of Vlad the Impaler was off the scales. This idea, this dark flavor that smeared the lines of fantasy, horror, and history was the flavor I had been searching for and aspired to write. It was okay to show the dark workings of characters. They didn’t have to be perfect. It was the flaws in Edmund and the characters in the previous books that made them feel so real, even when devoured by dinosaurs or described as talking beavers.
Through my interactions with these wonderful authors and their stories, I started to decide what I wanted my own readers to experience. This concept seemed to help build a foundation for my storytelling early on, looking to my own favorite books for insight on what experience did I take from that and how I could mimic that in my own way within my own stories. Some of the key elements were flawed characters, writing to cater all audiences, showing love is more than the act or the kiss, and the raw moments people exchange when no one is watching. I wanted all these in my stories!
Tattooed Angels Trilogy has been a labor of love project. It’s responsible for my drive to become an author and the desire to share my work with others. There are profound moments in a writer’s life, and this trilogy had a large part in my own. Throughout elementary and middle school, I was a tenacious reader with a love for fantasy books. I wrote my first novel in fifth grade. I still have the composition book I filled front to back, covered in assorted stickers from the 1990s (with the map I drew glued into the back cover). One fateful night during my high school days, Tattooed Angels was born. I recall the clock pushing past midnight as I tried to lull myself to sleep listening to some rock music. The DJ came on, talking about this new release from a band called TOOL. In the black abyss of night, I took in the heartbeat intro of the song Laterlus. The first few lyrics played out, the idea of black and white, then colors started a chain reaction in my imagination. It was here, lost to the music, I started asking myself a series of questions.
“What kind of character would be like that? Someone who normally sees in black and white, but on occasion might see something in color… Oh! What if he was color blind, but it was actually secret powers he gained from reincarnation? Wait… I got it. What if he’s a failed reincarnation? Hmm, what kind of powers would…”
It went on and on and before I knew it, I was jotting the brainstorm down, doodling some sketches, and the morning alarm was blasting. It all started with the creation of Hotan, then asking what kind of character he was, what his story was, and what I wanted him to share with readers. In the end, I often had to hide my creation at friends’ homes or within my notes for classes in hopes my mother would stop destroying it. During high school, I faced a lot of complicated situations. My parents were getting divorced, my father was lost to alcoholism (He’s now sober, and we’ve made amends), my mother’s verbal abuse started becoming physical (we don’t talk, and attempts for counseling have failed), and I felt broken. While my friends fretted over boyfriends, parties, and popularity, I felt all alone in my own goals. I needed a job, I kept good grades, and I aimed for independence as soon as possible. By college, I found myself having breakdowns when it was time to go “home” and would sit in my care crying and trying to calm myself. I needed a dependable place to call home or at least a place where I could feel safe.
In a lot of ways, Hotan reflected me. An adult in a teen’s body, I earned the name “mother hen” because I took care of my friends, keeping them out of trouble or helping them with their schoolwork. Because everything at home was so unstable behind closed doors, I focused on being my own pillar and a cornerstone for my friends. I didn’t discuss what was happening, though many of my teachers had an inkling. It was probably hard to miss the quiet kid coming early to school and crying in a dark corner (which I did often in high school). Anyhow, Hotan was my vehicle to deliver a message to my friends and other teens while letting others learn from my mistakes. The name Hotan was originally inspired by a Japanese language website claiming it meant “origin, starting point,” but that isn’t accurate at all. In fact, it’s more fitting to acknowledge Hotan is Biblical Greek for “when, inasmuch,” which is ironic and fits even more.
Aiming to deliver a message, I started a cautionary tale, one which encouraged asking for help, especially for the hard stuff, and refusing to hide. My story showed how to speak up, accepted the idea that life is unpredictable, and reassured readers that even though it may feel as if the world is against them, the fight is normal. Life is a struggle—and that’s okay. By the time high school ended, I had twenty-five thousand hard-earned words. Many times, I lost my creation and had to start over. One time, the computer died; another time, the floppy disk was destroyed. Still worse was the time my mother trashed my work, ripping it up, and even setting a sketchbook on fire. I didn’t give up. I started hiding parts of the story in the back of my math and animal science notebooks. I even printed the current copy out, put it in a binder, and asked a friend to keep it at her house. This was one thing no one could take from me: my desire to tell a story.
Life became a wild rollercoaster after I graduated. I was working several jobs and launched into college full time. The story collected dust in a box I carried, but I was hellbent on never going back home. I even lived out of my truck for a while. Years passed, and the story was forgotten until I ran into some friends I hadn’t seen since high school.
“Did you ever finish that story about Hotan?”
The question rattled me. I had forgotten about the story, but somehow, it had made an impression on them. They wanted to know if it was done, if there was an end to Hotan’s tale. So, I blew off the dust, figured out where I left off, and finished the story. With no fear of someone destroying it, I finished the story in a little over fifty-thousand words.
I gave it to a few friends to read and enjoy, but life hit me again, and the story found itself shelved. At least I had managed to pull together how book two and three would flow. Ah, but a book can’t write itself! I went to school for Graphic Design (I was part of the ITT debacle and was one class shy of my degree), then Game Programming, but health issues interfered, and I resigned.
Things settled for a little while, but I found myself in the most insane six months of my life. The economy popped. Our new house of barely two years, bought with equity, was now far below. The construction industry left me and my husband laid off. On top of that, I fell horribly ill, unable to keep water or food down, so the mother-in-law took me to the hospital.
“Good news! You’re about a month along in your pregnancy!”
I paled. We had been trying for three years, but we had only lost our jobs two weeks before. Of course, this would stick at the worst moment ever. Within the same month, a freckle on the back of my left calf became a monstrous mole. I cried and pleaded with the doctors to biopsy. My great-grandmother had one in the same spot. I knew what it meant by the look and the speed with which it grew. It took another month before a doctor heard me out.
“I’m so sorry. You were right. This is an atypical melanoma, and we need to remove it immediately.”
Here I was staring at the results while pushing into four months pregnant with my first child. I couldn’t believe how hard my life fell apart: twenty-four-hour “morning” sickness, both of us laid off through 2009-2010 winter, mortgage company speeding up our foreclosure because we let them know “no job and stage three cancer diagnosis.” I cried. Then I cried some more. Doctors called and told me where to be, sometimes the night before for a morning appointment. So many tears were shed. It all seemed unfair. This was too much—just one of these events would be enough to break a person.
In the end, they removed the back of my left calf while I was awake, a scary experience since I’d never even had a stitch or broken a bone before. I managed to shut down the foreclosure, very aware of the medical clause in my contract, sending them the football stitching down my leg and the intimate reports from the surgery with “stage 3” and “pregnant” highlighted. It was hell recovering, puking, and moving. I sat there as our new life rattled and shattered thinking, “When will this all end?” My husband managed to land a job, but that left me in my trimester, still puking and hobbled by my leg, to take care of myself alone. I woke up, the familiar dread, and rushed to the bathroom. The pain of blood rushing against the stitches had me in tears and as I went to hug the porcelain bowl, I blew out the stitches. Literally, I sat there covered in puke, blood, and piss (Because the pain was ungodly with it ripped) crying and the only thought was, “I should have finished that book I wrote in high school.” It was my only regret despite what else was falling apart in my life in that very moment. The house we thought we would never leave sold in a quick sale. Recovering with a newborn, I was alone while my husband landed a job working long hours for half the pay. Looking around, I saw my books, the boxes I could never let go—that had lived in a truck with me—these were part of my soul.
That one thought drove me to learn how to write at a professional level and publish my work. I had a memorable story, but I needed to know what it would take to make it an actual book. The answer left me crying once more: to fix it, to bring it to industry standard, required one more rewrite. A flood of sour memories followed, but this was the best decision ever.
“It’s part of life to struggle. Just makes those good days that much sweeter…”
And thus, my career as an author and the start of Tattooed Angels Trilogy was born!
With these tools and inspiration, my desire for writing was renewed. I still needed helping hands from family and friends to make sure I didn’t give up on my writing goals, but I finally made it. My next story, Cedric: The Demonic Knight, took its background from both history books and long-forgotten lore and bestiaries. It took some heavy searching to dig out information on all things werewolf, vampire, and more importantly, mythology. My single wish was to expose my readers to intriguing concepts, opening the door to a time period and lore that has been skewed from the original telling. I want my readers to experience the lore firsthand, and when the conversation came up in class or at the café among friends, they had the facts etched into their hearts. I wanted to hear them say, “I know it because I lived it through Cedric/Romasanta/Lillith,” and smile.
Currently, I have completed my young adult dark urban fantasy trilogy, Tattooed Angels. The first book in this series is Rebirth, a story I put to paper back in high school (circa 2001-2003). When I started writing this piece, I wanted it to be able to go into my high school’s library and share some hard lessons about selfhood and those harder moments in our lives. I made it to Chapter Six before life swept me away from it. It collected dust until it somehow came up in a conversation at work in 2005. At that time, a friend named Kelly inspired and encouraged me to continue writing. The next year, I added to it, pushing to Chapter 12 before I let life wipe it from my thoughts again.
In 2010, I found myself part of an online gaming group called The Shadow Legion. Somehow someone (Ruth and Ruth, along with Susannah) reminded me I had Rebirth waiting on me to complete. Thanks to the encouragements of my Gaming Crew, I finished my first rough draft of a complete novel. Looking back, I had no idea how significant it was for any writer to finish the story. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of my frustration. I realized as I researched more about the professional writing field that Rebirth needed a mountain of work–a rewrite of my high school portions. I can’t tell you how many times I sat in front of my computer staring at a screen of text, no idea how to even begin a rewrite or how to break myself away from the original writing to make a better version.
At this point, I entertained the idea of sketching out a graphic novel. There were obstacles to that piece as well. I found myself throwing out storyboard after storyboard on how to capture everything I wanted to tell the audience in this epic idea. Looking at both of these stories, Rebirth, and Cedric, I had to make some hard decisions.
Rebirth deserved quality writing and attention… but I wasn’t skilled enough, not yet. Cedric, on the other hand, still wasn’t giving enough for the reader to see. I knew I would come to points that needed large paragraphs to explain. It hit me: take what I now knew about writing and write Cedric instead.
At this point, Cedric had three years of random research, sketches, and roughed-out storyline plots. It took a year to get the whole story down in the rough and another year to refine, but Cedric finally made it to print, and I gained a mountain of experience in this new world where I’m called author.
“Am I ready to fix Rebirth?”
Holding my breath, I opened that old Word .doc file and loaded the other half of the screen with a fresh .doc file. I started to rewrite the story with tears streaming down my face. Glancing over the first chapter, I grimaced, seeing the mistakes; I could see where I didn’t think of my readers’ needs. There were clear moments where my fear of revealing too much derailed the content. I have since learned that if it’s a good story and beautifully written, I can tell readers everything and still pull them in. That first night I pumped out over 5,000 words, expanding the first chapter so much it had to be split in two!
Progress had been made.
A full-time author was born. I haven’t stopped or looked back since, and I hope to write many more stories, novels, and series. If life didn’t seem wild so far, 2018 tested me on so many levels. Once more, the tribulations stacked up: my dad’s double lung transplant, my mother-in-law’s broken arm, me father-in-law’s knee surgery, and kidney problems, my littlest one’s autism and need for tubes, my diagnosis of Alpha-1 (which killed dad’s lungs), and so much more.
Despite it all, I wrote the final book of the Tattooed Angels Trilogy, finished another book concept to query to agents, remade a few public domain reference books, hosted workshops and webinars, and spoke on panels as a guest author for MegaCon Tampa Bay & Orlando. Part of the reason for my success is that I both gave and accepted help from many others in the community. This included the Alliance of Worldbuilders founded on Authonomy before it fell, and later, in my local area, Writer’s Atelier and its founder Racquel Henry. Without their guidance and encouragement, I wouldn’t be writing this book or any of the books I have published, completed, and brainstormed.
I had my moments of self-doubt, even after being gushed over for the work I had achieved after only a book or two. No, self-publishing wasn’t my initial aim. I wanted to be traditional, but some amazing literary agents gave me some great advice about my work and what it would take to make it into a book and get it into reader’s hands. In the end, I don’t fit in a box. My work is often hard to market since I don’t cater a hundred percent to fantasy or romance… or paranormal or historical or mythology. My books are a mixed bag but in a good way.
“Never stop moving forward.”
I never stopped. As my mantra implies, I am in control of my writing and what happens to it. Today, I find myself with contracts, sitting at tables at my favorite conventions, and inspiring writers every chance I have. Keep going. It will be hard and ugly, but I promise, there’s light at the end of this, and that curse will become a blessing.
So fast forward to now. I am co-founder and owner to 4 Horsemen Publications with over 100+ authors and not to mention over 50+ titles under one of three pen names. I have typeset nearly over 2,000 books which feels surreal until I really look at what I’ve achieved working as one for big companies, small presses, and individual authors. My life was forced back on its tracks that one crazy day and I haven’t looked back. It hasn’t been without its own challenges, but I can’t wait to see how I grow as both an author and publisher in this industry that finds itself rapidly changing as of late.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Oh no. My struggles came in many forms from depression, anxiety, abusive mother, bullying, cancer, and more.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Currently, I’m a co-founder and Chief Operating Officer for 4 Horsemen Publications, Inc., an expert digital typesetter, and a fantasy romance author. When writing, I love to craft novels with elements inspired by mythology, legends, folklore, fairy tales, and history. As COO, I oversee the design of all books including covers, typesets, and author branding where I pull in creative print design while making versatile eBooks. This comes from a long history of working for multiple publishers, presses, and authors for the last decade or so. It’s been amazing to be able to teach others the unique way I digitally typeset that adds a more artistic touch to even Print-on-Demand books but cuts the time in which a print and eBook are designed (what would take a week or more and shortening the time to merely a few hours). I also enjoy hosting workshops or attending as a guest speaker at many events (MegaCon, DragonCon, OCLS Writers Conference, Florida Writers Conference, SavvyAuthors, Women in Publishing Summit, etc.). I’ve been on panels with best-selling authors from Peter David to Delilah Dawson sharing my expertise in writing, research, worldbuilding, character development, book design, reader immersion, and more. Another amazing thing I’ve been part of is co-hosting on the Drinking with Authors Podcast speaking with Jonathan Maberry, Heather Graham, Charles Gannon, and many more on their own journeys as an author!
As for my own work, I have an award-winning dark fantasy paranormal romance, The Cedric Series. This is a blend of genres that appeals to a wide range of readers who describe it as “dramatic, lustful, and fantasy-fulfilling.” The motto here is: “No immortal is beyond the ailments of man” that includes powerful creatures, demons, witches, and deities! Many of the monsters are derived from Medieval Bestiaries adding a fun flavor of new yet deeply rooted assortment such as Coin Iotair, Shag Foal, Cynocephali, and more. For readers of fantasy MM romance, I write under the pen name V.C. Willis with the Traibon Family Saga starting with books The Prince’s Priest and The Priest’s Assassin. If you’re looking for steamy paranormal erotica, chase down Urban Legends and modern telling of Fairy tales as pen name Honey Cummings.
Thank to 4 Horsemen Publications, Inc. I’ve been able to bring over a decade of typesetting skills and industry knowledge to the table. Nothing is more rewarding for me than making a fellow author’s dream come to life in physical format. Designing and writing books has been a longtime passion since childhood and I continue to inspire and encourage authors around the world whenever possible (as well as write my own stories!).
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Something my great-grandmother used to tell me over and over: “Life never takes you where you want to go, it takes you where you need to go.”
Contact Info:
- Website: www.WillisAuthor.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/willisauthor
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValerieWillisAuthor/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Valerie_Willis
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCz5cx17eOHezaTii7NSk5w
- Other: https://linktr.ee/WillisAuthor
