Today we’d like to introduce you to Danielle Soucy Mills.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Danielle. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I guess you could say ever since I was little I knew that I’d someday be a writer. I wrote my first “book” by 5th grade in a blue notebook during class time at the Montessori school I attended — but I also remember realizing that I didn’t quite know enough about life yet to write a real book…
Years later, I ended up studying creative writing at Rhode Island College. I received the English Faculty Award for a collection of my short stories, which helped remind me I was on the right track. I decided to apply for grad school all the way out in California, despite living my whole life in the New England area. When I was accepted into Chapman University with a small fellowship, it was again incredibly validating for me that perhaps living my dream was indeed possible.
My first novel, Illusion of an Ending, was written for my thesis in grad school, and alongside doing that, I also wrote my children’s book, Tina Tumbles.
Falling into independent publishing about six years later, both books finally made it out into the world… Tina Tumbles ended up “randomly” appearing in Us Weekly magazine as a favorite of Jenna Dewan and Channing Tatum’s daughter, Everly, which was an incredible surprise. It was a clear sign to me that when taking a chance on living your dreams and going for your goals, amazing things can happen.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Well, to be honest, the world of writing and publishing is never really easy, especially since the publishing world is continually changing. It’s often recommended that you find a literary agent who will then pitch your manuscript to publishers and while I tried that route at first, I often found it difficult to find the perfect agent to take on both my adult writing (visionary and metaphysical fiction) as well as the writing I did for kids. I didn’t send my work out to too many agents because I really wanted to find the PERFECT one, you know, almost like it is when finding your life partner! I always felt somewhat stuck, because it never really felt quite right — not to mention, they’ve got to really like your work too!
I ended up finding a publishing company which seemed perfect at the time, although things didn’t exactly work out. After meeting my publishing mentor, award-winning, best-selling author, Sheri Fink, at a Publishers and Writers of San Diego meeting, my illustrator and I were able to revamp the illustrations she’d done, fund a successful Kickstarter campaign, and launch Tina Tumbles in the spring of 2014.
What I learned is that even if you feel stuck, like things aren’t going exactly according to plan, don’t give up. I totally believe that we are always led down the right path, even if we take a little detour. We just have to keep going…
Please tell us about being an author.
I’m an author of books for both children and adults, and my goal is to help contribute to the well-being of our world through inspirational writing. Even though I write fiction, I like to lace in concepts I’ve been learning about which help people in life outside of books — for my children’s books, the power of positive thinking and belief in yourself. My adult books are a little more “out there” I guess you could say, delving into topics like life purpose, intuition, and divine guidance.
One of my lifelong passions is also the sport of gymnastics, a sport which teaches both inner and outer strength, dedication, focus, you name it… years ago, my mom, who worked for two different libraries in New England, pointed out a big gap in the gymnastics picture book market, so my goal has also been to help fill that gap, writing books to encourage young gymnasts to tackle their fears, and to really and truly believe in themselves, both inside and outside of the gym.
While I may be known for my gymnastics kids books, I do have manuscripts I’ve been working on that focus on other topics… it’s only just the beginning!
Often it feels as if the media, by and large, is only focused on the obstacles faced by women, but we feel it’s important to also look for the opportunities. In your view, are there opportunities that you see that women are particularly well positioned for?
I truly think there are incredible opportunities in the world for women, you just have to open your mind up to them. To be honest, I try not to pay attention to the negative news — the media does like to focus on what’s wrong, and I totally think that creates a huge problem when considering mindset. If you focus on the negative, you just get more negative in your life… it’s the Law of Attraction, which the world has been learning more and more as people come to recognize that you often attract what you surround yourself with, day in and day out. I think if you’re open to opportunity vs focusing on the “issues” when you allow yourself to truly be guided by your inner voice, the sky is not the limit — there are no limits. It all depends on which way you look at it.
Pricing:
- Illusion of an Ending: A Novel – $12
- Tina Tumbles – Hardcover $13-17.99 (author website or Amazon)
- Tina Tumbles – Paperback, $8.99
- Tina Tumbles “I Flip Over Books T-shirt”, $20+
Contact Info:
- Website: www.daniellesoucymills.com
- Email: daniellesoucymills@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/daniellesoucymills
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/AuthorDanielleSoucyMills ; www.facebook.com/TinaTumbles
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/dsoucymills
- Other: amazon.com/author/daniellesoucymills
Image Credit:
Us Weekly Magazine; Shannon Miller Lifestyle; Poway Community Library
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