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What Shall I do?

November 12, 2025 Patricia Elliott

This year has been a slow writing and publishing year for me. Life has been super busy and changing in big ways, so writing kind of took back stage to everything else.

But I don’t want that to continue to be the case because I have so many stories to tell and limited time to tell them. I’m not getting any younger and with the loss of my dad, that knowledge really hit home.

But with that knowledge hitting home, it also made me realize how precious time is with your loved ones and it’s been hard to focus on things like writing because I don’t want to lose out on time with them.

Even now as I sit here, my partner is cooking in the kitchen, and I’m in the living room. This is not where I would usually be because I want to be by his side, doing as much as I can with him. He said that he could handle dinner, so here I am, trying to pick-up where I left off many months ago.

We both started new jobs. I actually accepted a Site Supervisor position for the first time. Something I had never really wanted to do because if you know me, my life was previously stressful so the last thing I wanted was to be the one responsible for everything running smoothly. *lol* But everyone has to excel upwards at some point, right? We can’t stay where we are forever or we never grow, and at 47 years old, it’s time for me to grow in my industry.

So tell me, are you working on climbing the ladder or are you just coasting? If you’re coasting, then I understand completely. Change is difficult for me, but so many things have been changing that I figure I might as well embrace it and change with it.

What about you? What have you changed in your life this year? Share in my email or in the comments below. Also, I want your advice, should I work on releasing my zombie series, or would you like to see my steamy trilogy?

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When I Was 41, My Husband Left Me

May 24, 2025May 24, 2025 Patricia Elliott

Starting Over…

When I was 41, my husband left me. Over time, he wanted to come back, but I refused to let him return home, unless he got help with his addictions and anger. But I should have acknowledged by that point that my marriage was over and had been for a long time. We’d been married for 21 years, but it wasn’t going well. He had gotten into some stuff that wasn’t good or safe for myself or the kids. Three years passed and soon it was 2022, and I got the fateful call. The stuff he had gotten into had killed him, and I was a widow at just 44 years old. Fentanyl had taken another life.

Now, not only was I trying to figure out who I was as a woman, I was also trying to figure out who I was as a widow, and now officially single. What kind of life did I want for myself? Who did I want to be? What kind of example did I want to set for my kids? In life, we are going to face all sorts of disappointments and traumatic situations, and when we do, we have a choice to make. We can rise to the challenge or we can fall. We can choose to let depression take over and wallow in our miserable existence, or we can make a decision to live. I found that when the hard times hit, my mindset was everything.

That isn’t to say that you don’t allow yourself to mourn or that you don’t deal with negative emotions, but you also know that your life is going to be what you make it. Life isn’t just our sad times or our bad times, so you either learn to rise and rebuild or you let them destroy you. Hard times are inevitable. We can’t get through life without hard times, but how we respond or what we choose to do when they happen will make or break us.

So I rose up. I made a change to a better job with better pay. I mourned for my husband, and then I chose to find love again. This time, I knew what I wanted and what I didn’t want in a relationship. I wanted someone who would step up and be a true partner, and not act like another child. I wanted someone who knew what they wanted out of life and was already established. I wanted someone who was kind and gentle and knew how to handle their anger. Someone who would never take it out on me and wouldn’t abuse me when they were angry.

I started dating for the first time in 24 years. I met some nice guys, who I saw more than once, and then others, who, quite frankly, gave me the willies. And then when one guy said he didn’t think it was going to work out after two months, I met an incredible man on Bumble. I know this is probably cliché, but I could see the beauty of his soul in his eyes. He’d faced hardships in this life, but he didn’t allow those to define him. He rose above them just like I had. He takes care of me and is super supportive. Even after a busy day, he doesn’t come home to sleep. He invests his time to help around the house and spends quality time with me. He doesn’t live all his life on a video game or with his nose in his phone. He’s present with me and I love him incredibly. He wants to help my kids be the best version of themselves and invests his time to help them. I couldn’t ask for a better man in my life.

I never thought that love could be this way. I’m able to share my feelings and not worry about getting my head chewed off, and he’s receptive to my fears. Sometimes I still feel like the other shoe is going to drop, and I know he sometimes worries about the same, but honestly, we’re so similar, but different enough, that it just works so amazingly. When my dad died, he was there for me. He took care of stuff around the house and took care of me while I processed what happened.

I guess I’m kind of rambling, but the point I wanted to make is that, no matter your age, you can start over. It’s not the end of the road when something tragic happens, it’s a vehicle to create change. How your life turns out really depends on your mindset. If you believe the world is out to get you and always complain about everything, that’s exactly what will happen because it’s all you train yourself to see. My husband had that mentality, and it fostered such a bad temperament that it was draining. You need to surround yourself with people who want to reach for the stars.

So I hope you will join me in reaching for the stars by joining my newsletter. You will also receive a free short story in the process called, “Into the Fire.”

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What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?

September 20, 2024September 21, 2024 Patricia Elliott

What do you want to be when you grow up?

How many times did you hear this question when you were growing up? I bet it was more times than one could possibly count. This question often comes up again in a round about way when you hit mid-life, but this time, instead of everyone else asking you, you are asking yourself.

You look back on your life and re-evaluate all your decisions. Are you following your dreams? Are you where you thought you’d be by this point in your life? You hear people talk a lot about a mid-life crisis, and a lot of people do go through it in one way or another. It causes some to make some unsavory choices, especially in relationships. It causes others to become depressed as they think they are too old to make any positive life changes or to start a new career.

When I was younger, I made some bad course choices in high school which limited my ability to study certain jobs and/or trades, but every time I thought of something I would like to do, my mind always came back to writing. Writing. Writing. Writing. That was my passion. That was where my heart stayed. And anytime I think about shifting my current security career to something else, I keep going back to my writing. I want to make a career out of writing stories to share with the world.

So my advice to you is to follow your passion. If you don’t follow your passion, you will wish you did. We all have a passion that hits us hard and hits us young, and often times we think we can’t do anything with it because it’s too fanciful of a dream. But nothing is impossible if you work at it. Okay, maybe you can’t fly like Rogue from x-men, but you can certainly find ways to fly and fulfill your dreams. All it takes is planning, effort and determination to not give up when the going gets tough.

I just released my next novel, The Blues of Atlantis. It’s a story that I wrote over 5 years ago on Wattpad. Ironically enough, I had its sequel, “The Cowboy’s Heritage,” published first through BVS, but that one has since been pulled from publication and will be re-published shortly. I am hoping to have it released in October, depending on how smoothly things go this month.

I am following after my dreams, and I promise you that you can follow after yours. Think back really hard. What was it that you loved the most when you were younger? What did you dream of? Was it flying to the moon? Was it working with animals? Was it writing? Movie making? You have to live your passion or life just passes you by and you’ll look back wondering what could have been.

Don’t let that be you. If you have a story, write it! If you always loved to draw and create, do it! The only person stopping you is you.

For as long as there have been men, there have been myths. And as long as there have been myths, there have been dreamers. Dreamers who wonder what else is out there.

Nerina Winters is no different. She lives a fantasy life as a mermaid, putting on daily shows at the aquarium. Until one day, she finds herself sitting in the doctor’s office. The revelation of what’s ailing her reveals a family secret she isn’t supposed to know about until her thirtieth birthday.

But it’s too late. The secret is out. Now she’s on the run with a husband she no longer trusts, who harbors a secret of his own. Her husband quickly learns that secrets are perilous by nature.

Some swear by them.

Some die from them.

But who will live, and who will die?

And will they live long enough to find out?

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Getting Old

August 14, 2024 Patricia Elliott

If I may use a famous quote: I no like it!

I roll over and my shoulder blade goes, nope. I walk up the stairs and my knee is like, nope. Hip. Same thing. Why do we have to get old. Why can’t we stay young and vibrant forever?

Today we walked ten kilometers around Barnston Island in Surrey. The island was an interesting place to walk around. Big farms. Cute houses, but also dilapidated houses.

As we walked around, out bodies decided to say nope, not today; yet, we still had to keep walking because there are no buses and no way to get back to the ferry but walk. Our car was parked on the other side. We had walked onto the ferry.

But who would have thought ten kilometers would make our bodies start crying? I used to walk for a living and ten km was nothing in a day. I’ve come to realize that sitting at a desk all day at work is so not healthy. I’m determined to be able to walk without hobbling like an old woman.

Life is too short to be achy and stuck in a chair. Our world is too beautiful to let it waste away. So despite being sore, I am glad we got out to see Barnston Island.

We saw donkeys, cows, horses, chickens, silage, corn and blackberries. But what surprised me most was the amount of dilapidated buildings. Don’t get me wrong, there were some nice places on the island, but the others quickly became an eye sore.

While we were walking around the island, it surprised me that only a few properties were actually growing anything, unless everything else we saw was silage, but I wasn’t sure. When I got home, I did some research and found out that a high water table makes poor growing conditions for about 85% of the land, so I guess that would explain the lack of farming activity and maybe even some of the poor falling apart buildings.

However, I did find a place that sells eggs and beef called “Painted Rivers.” We’re looking forward to going back and checking them out. But ya, getting old isn’t a piece of cake. Everything aches. If you have a cure or you know of a way to settle these old bones, make a comment below. I’d love to hear from you.

The Blues of Atlantis

For as long as there have been men, there have been myths. And as long as there have been myths, there have been dreamers. Dreamers who wonder what else is out there.

But it’s too late. The secret is out. Now she’s on the run with a husband she no longer trusts, who harbors a secret of his own. Her husband quickly learns that secrets are perilous by nature.

Some swear by them.

Some die from them.

But who will live, and who will die?

And will they live long enough to find out?

Click here to Pre-Order

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A Psychological Thriller / Romance Duology

December 10, 2023December 10, 2023 Patricia Elliott

Two stories born out of one idea. One is as dark as dark can be, and the other is about learning to love and trust others when no one has ever given you reason to before. Both are about finding strength to keep going when all the odds seem to be against you. And all the odds are against them as you will come to find out when you read both “Her Prison, His Game” and “Beneath His Hands.”

Her Prison His Game – Book One Blurb:

“In the middle of a forest, in an unknown location, is a game. A psychological game designed to play with the mind until it breaks.

The man responsible wants fresh meat. Someone who hasn’t experienced the horrors of the real world. He wants to see how long it would take to make them fall apart, to make them wish for death.

Combing the city of Surrey, he spots his next target…a young librarian named Jenna McCay.

Jenna McCay didn’t realize that when you turn 19, the easy life she knew would end, and the horrors of life would set in, in unimaginable ways.

Will she find the strength to survive the game, or will she break before the final curtain falls?”

Click here to order now

And low and behold, Book Two has just dropped for pre-order on Amazon:

Beneath His Hands – Book Two Blurb:

“Ethan Barrett loves his solitude, hence his boat the Em-Dash and the wide open ocean. It is exactly what he needs to finish his script and celebrate his 30th birthday in peace.

His hopes are quickly dashed when two storms roll in. One with reddish blond hair, and the other which sends him overboard in an attempt to rescue the ninja lady from the worst storm he’s ever experienced in his lifetime.

As his boat goes down and their hope for survival darkens, will he be able to gain the trust of the mystery woman full of secrets, and work together to survive? Or…

Will she be their downfall in an already merciless environment?”

Click here to pre-order now for only 0.99 cents USD

Official drop date for Book Two is January 9th, 2024.

Enjoy!!!!

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