Crede Axton

"I didn't always want to become a writer. I didn't always think I would become a faithful reader, either... It wasn't until the day I picked a book from a Walmart shelf, which I had passed over several times, that I realized exactly what I was missing. Reading then became my favorite way to escape." At 30 years old, I have lived many lives: ranch work in Cody, Wyoming, traveling across the United States on a whim, walking across the desert in Las Vegas, Nevada, at 4 A.M. But none of those stories compare to finding out I was pregnant while at basic training when I was 20 years old. Now that I am married and my daughter is 10, life has changed. I work as a corporate procurement associate for Sappi North America, I work very part time at a local brewery, I write as much as I can when I get the chance, and last summer I learned to ride a motorcycle. My writing journey began three years ago when I wrote my first short story while loading pulp into a rail car during my hourly days at Sappi. But short stories didn't curb my hunger, and I knew my characters deserved more. A year later, I wrote my first book, at 50 chapters and 130,000 words.