I began writing in early 2013 after discovering a love for reading in the new adult genre. As the mother of a severely autistic child, both reading and writing became a means of escape from the stresses of daily life. It was also a way to manifest the fantasies that had always run through my vivid imagination since childhood. While I’d dabbled in poetry, I hadn’t taken a stab at fiction until that time—in my late thirties. After completing my first novel, I bought a book on self-publishing and taught myself how to actually get my book out there. At the time, I had no connections, no author friends, not even a Facebook page. I got lucky when after a free promotion on Amazon, several thousand people downloaded my first book, Gemini, and it garnered the attention of some romance blogs. Admittedly, the market was much less saturated a few years back, and I feel as though it was a bit easier than it would be today for a debut author to get noticed in this way. With each release, I have acquired more new readers and count myself so very lucky that something that started as a fun hobby has turned into a career. I certainly never expected to reach the top of the bestseller lists in my wildest dreams. Now, I couldn’t imagine a life where I wasn’t creating fictional characters and painting imaginary worlds.

www.penelopewardauthor.com