J.Rhett Lively

For years, I’ve hidden my writing. Diong mostly ghost writing, nothing that I’ve done is currently in my own name since those are contacted out.

But I’m tired of spending the time writing and not getting any of the credit or the long-term financial gain and I’m ready to start writing the stories I want to tell. I’m ready to take the time to do things for me, not for someone else.

I also for a time toyed with the idea of writing under a pen name, because I know that some of the things I plan to write will lead to questions from my family and friends who don’t understand that writing and telling stories is an art. While some of the backgrounds of my characters are taken from real-world people, the stories that are going to unfold have nothing to do with those same real-world people. It’s the backgrounds that help make the stories and that’ll be proved as I cross genres between the first and second book I’m planning to write. In both one character in each book will come from a similar background, yet their paths will take completely different arcs through these two stories.

As I looked into creating a pen name though, I realized that in doing so I still wouldn’t ever get the personal satisfaction of seeing my name in print on a book when I browsed the books at Target or our local bookstores. And seeing that in my lifetime is something I truly want to see, no matter what my family and friends my think of some of the novels along the way.

I have to remember that not everyone reads the same types of books, not everyone enjoys the same forms of entertainment.

So, today, March 17, 2025, I’m on day five of writing the first novel I plan to publish. My goal is for “Unveiled” to come out next February. This story will bounce between the past and the present as a couple discovers their feelings for each other have changed over the years, ending in a marriage of the two against so many odds.

When I need a break from that, I’m also working on “Begotten,” a story in verse which will be set in the time of Christ’s life. My goal is to tell the story of Jesus from points of view that we know from the biblical texts, but also from points of view that are more of a thought experiment as to what something or someone would say if they were there and given the chance to express themselves. After all, the life of Christ broke time itself so what other ripple effects might there have been at the time throughout Creation itself?

I have no date for completion on this one, right now it’s purely a brain-break when I’m stuck on the primary at the time. I imagine at best this one will be on the drafting table for a couple of years before I get serious about finishing it.

While I plan to write a Romance Novel (i.e. “Unveiled”) each year, I also plan to dip my toes into a sci-fi fantasy series I have been toying with in my head since college. Over the years I have developed characters, stories, and settings that I’m finally ready to put down into a story.

The Leaping Out Series will kick off with “Then There Were Dragons” as humanity begins looking to explore space and search for Earth, which they left behind when war had made it incapable of supporting life. Along the way they discover that many of the myths and legends of old are in fact reality, and much more dangerous than our literature had led us to believe.

And I’m toying with the idea of creating a few children’s books as well, though I haven’t settled on a theme for those yet and it may not be something I ever actually complete. Right now, it’s just a thought.

In any case, I hope to start having books coming out at least twice a year. I think it’s time that I stopped worrying about the opinions of those around me and simply be who I have dreamed of being since I first started having my own dreams for my life and future.

Here’s to many, many days of writing and mental exercise ahead!