What if I want to be the one to hold your hand?

To ride in your car?

What if I want to be the one to kiss you in the rain?

To sit next to you, a little closer than a friendly status?

But I guess this ain't a fairytale

And I guess I ain't a Disney princess with a happy ending

I guess soon I'll have to stop wishin' on stars

And blowing away dandelion seeds

I guess soon I'll have to stop blowing out my birthday candles

And I guess soon 11:11 will just be another time of the day

'Cause no matter how many times I wish

I'm still let down

So why don't I give up hope?

Maybe, just maybe, because I feel like I deserve it.

And maybe, just maybe, that's my first fault.

This week's guest blogger is Louisville, Kentucky native Stephanie M. Hogan.

She said that becoming a novelist was always the ultimate dream, however, her writing career didn't officially begin until 2014 with the publication of one of her many short stories.

Although the thought of writing as a career was always spinning around in the back of her mind, Stephanie said she "traveled down a harried path" before she saw writing full-time as an achievable goal.

Starting college as a nursing major and then quickly switching to education after three semesters, Stephanie became an Elementary Math and Reading Interventionist for the public school system, all while spending as many hours as she could creating works of fiction at night.

Now, writing is slowly sneaking into the forefront as more of her works are becoming available in e-book format.

P: What are some of the misconceptions or surprises that you've encountered throughout you career? How have your responsibilities and goals as a writer changed and evolved?

SH: First, I should let everyone know that I am an independent author, which means I do not have an agent or publishing house. There are several misconceptions, many of which I've had myself, that go along with being an indie author.

Many people think that if you choose to publish on your own that you most likely have been unsuccessful in the pursuit of obtaining an agent. For me, that's not true. I never went through the submission process. I decided long before I ever completed my first novel, that if I did indeed finish it, that I wanted to self-publish.

Another misconception is that it is easier to self-publish than to go the traditional submission route. Though you do not have to face the rejection that comes along with the traditional submission process, it is anything but easy. You alone are responsible for not only writing your novel, but the editing, the promotion, the artwork for your cover, obtaining your copyright, etc. The list goes on and on, but for me, it was the right choice.

My main goal as a writer has always been to connect with others through my work. If someone can read my stories and find a part of themselves in one of the characters, laugh out loud at the situations, or make a connection to it at all, my goal has been met. Of course, it would be absolutely amazing to make enough money to not need a day job to supplement my income. However, that day is not today and my goal of connecting with people through writing has remained the same.

I will keep creating new characters and new worlds in hopes that my readers will enjoy them as much as I do.

-Stephanie Hogan

Stephanie is the author of two New Adult Romance novels: The Way Back Home, a full-length novel, and Running Out of Time, a companion novella. Both are available on Amazon and through Kindle Unlimited.

SOLD, a dystopian short about a young girl named Ada, was printed in the May 2014 online edition of Reader's Carnival, an international column that celebrates emerging independent authors.

For more information on SOLD, The Way Back Home, or Running Out of Time, please visit Stephanie's website at http://www.stephaniemhogan.com. You can also follower her here @StephanieMHogan and on Twitter @stephaniemhogan.

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Stay tuned here each week for more in this #MondayBlogs series— designed to educate and inspire you from the inside out. We’ll give you insights and resources from the literary industry at large as well as exclusives about your own world of words:

-Prose.

Dearest readers and writers,

As you may recall, we posed a challenge several weeks ago that asked:

If there was just one writer here that you'd like to know more about, who would it be?

Your votes were cast and interviews were distributed accordingly.

This Friday Feature is based upon a nomination by one of your fellow Prosers. Who is @51buked50? Where is he from, and what does writing mean to him?

David Burdett was born in Bellflower, California. A suburb of Los Angeles. He was kind enough to provide a detailed interview which has been excerpted here for your reading pleasure.

"I've held just about every shit job under the sun with the exception of mopping asphalt.

"When I was in elementary school we used to have these book fairs where various authors would come out and talk to us and read these books that us kids would write and bind between two sheets of cardboard.

"I remember this one author speaking to our class and afterward he singled me out and told me I was a writer. He was a very intense guy. He looked like John Steinbeck.

"Some people learn how to fuck by looking at pornography. I learned how to not feel so alone through reading and writing.

"I plan on keeping on with the poetry but know that it's time to start focusing more on writing short stories and a novel.

"I have a tendency to get sidetracked and sometimes it's hard to just get the hell out of my own way.

"Prose has gotten me back into the swing of writing. I had hung it up for quite some time for personal reasons but it feels good to create again. Aside from the words and a couple of friends, honestly, what else could you need?"

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This #FridayFeature blog series is designed to help you get to know your fellow community members better. Would you like to nominate someone for interview? Have a question you’re dying to ask of someone on the platform? Send us a private message here or email info@theprose.com anytime.

I've been thinking this a while and I can't disguise it anymore - I'm trying to keep it under control but it's not easy when I feel like this...

My name is Paul and I'm a wordaholic, a compulsive and obsessive addict and because of this I can't stop using Prose. :D

I love this place, I love the app, the people I've met and those who inspire me, I love the ethos here, the art, the challenges and the fact that we are all growing together.

So there I said it, I confess. But....

Is this normal...

Should I worry.... ?

(ps. help!)

Ravenous and gluttonous

We have fed the demons desires

Painting the world in hell's sweat and angels blood

As wars are fought in vain

People starve on the streets

while we throw our abundances away

They line bank accounts with more money then could spent

Taking it from the hard working class

because they think they are better then them

But as hard as the devil works

God works much more

For it is the "little" things

Those "unworthy" of the news

The coming together

The lending a hand

The miracles you never see

The moments that you realize

If this had played out just a tad bit differently

I would be dead right now

It is these times

The times you listen

You realize

God

Is right there

Waiting for you

To believe

Happy Friday, Prosers! Let’s start the weekend off on the “write” foot, shall we?

This week’s featured Proser, @AyeMich, is an insanely busy, multi-talented artist. On any given day, when she’s not on Prose, you’ll find her live tweeting the latest event in pop culture or sharing details about a recent travel adventure to Los Angeles.

We were fortunate enough to track her down for an interview, which you'll find below...

P: Where are you from, and what kind of work do you do outside of writing?

AM: I was born in Walnut Creek, California, but I live in a small town called Pittsburg, Ca. I work for a non-profit organization that deals with insurances of all kinds.

P: What is your relationship with writing and how has it evolved?

AM: My relationship with writing is a complicated one, I think. I love it to death, but it also infuriates me at times. And by that, I mean the entire process. Sometimes, I have ideas that I can't pen down for the life of me. It will not translate.

I started writing when I was really young, so I'm confident in saying that my writing has evolved greatly. I've learned structure, which I think is one of the most important parts of being a writer. Dialogue used to be difficult for me, but the older I get, the easier I find it to be and I think it's because I have a lot more life experience now.

P: Briefly discuss the value that reading adds to both your personal and professional life.

AM: I've always been a reader. I think it is extremely important for writers to read other works. Personally, not only does it give me reprieve from my own work, but it also allows my mind to shut off for a while. As a writer, that can be pretty difficult.

As for professionally, it creates ideas. Not only that, but you learn from reading other people's work. I believe it is highly important for a writer to be a reader as well. It goes hand in hand, really.

P: How would you describe your current literary ventures and what can we look forward to in future posts?

AM: In all honesty, I'm all over the place right now. It's tedious. The entire writing process for any project is tedious and time consuming. I'm just now finishing my first novel and I've already begun both the sequel and another novel altogether.

In the future, I think I'd like to stick more to screenwriting. I'll blog here and there, but for the most part, I'm working on a few things that are going to take time and commitment and they're all pretty much coming back to back.

P: What called you to Prose.? What keeps you coming back? Discuss.

AM: I found Prose through Twitter, I believe and the one thing that brought me here was the idea of being able to write poetry. It's been so long since I've been able to, you know? So, that's what brings me back is the challenges. I love them. There are so many of them and I often find myself opening the app and staying on it for an hour or two at a time. There's also the people. It's so easy to meet/talk to new people and other members. It's sometimes hard to get to know others on sites like this, but in Prose everyone is so inviting and invested. It's great.

Following up on what I'm doing now: I just recently finished filming the trailer for a new web series that I'm working on. My writing/creating partner and I have done so much work since October of 2014 to get this off the ground and we've finally got an amazing cast of people who I can't wait to work with further.

A little background about the web series itself and the process:

My writing partner, Adrienne, approached me with an idea back in early October about a possible web series and I was on board from the beginning. We spent many nights on the phone and over Skype discussing characters and their personalities, plot points, etc. It took a lot of brainstorming for this project to come together and I know that we're both so very proud of what it's become and where it's going.

P: What’s it like to collaborate with another writer?

AM: I'd never actually collaborated on anything before. Not at this caliber anyway. So, it was really interesting to see how easy it came to the both of us. We're almost always on the same page and when we aren't, we simply talk it out until we come to an agreement. It's been fun and exciting and sometimes stressful, but not to the point where it becomes a problem. We're really good at compromising, surprisingly. And it's always good to have someone to bounce ideas off of. I think that's the best part because, as a writer, you have so many ideas at once and if you have someone on the other end acting as a sort of sounding board, it becomes easier to decipher those ideas. Not only that, but having someone else to bring forth ideas only creates more and better ideas in the long run. It's definitely something I'm glad to be a part of.

P: Have you encountered any surprises with this project?

AM: There have been a few. Not only with writing, but with filming, too. In writing, there have been changes here and there that, when writing you thought were amazing, but then you edit and you're like, "why, exactly, did we do this?"

There's also the growth of a character before your very eyes that you weren't expecting. I know that we have one character who was initially supposed to be this sweet and laid back character and she turned into this sassy, no-nonsense kind of woman and it was honestly the best thing for the character, but it happen all on its own. Characters have a way of taking on a life of their own.

If you'd like to find @AyeMich on the web, follow her @amhillwrites and @beyourbreeze on Twitter, as well as on Facebook at facebook.com/ashlyemichelle.

Ashlye’s writing partner, Adrienne, can be found at @AdrienneMarie90 on Twitter and Instagram. You may also follow their new web series @COLGseries on Twitter.

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This #FridayFeature blog series is designed to help you get to know your fellow community members better. Would you like to nominate someone for interview? Have a question you’re dying to ask of someone on the platform? Send us a private message here or email info@theprose.com anytime.

https://theprose.com/post/21055/Moving-Through-Walls

... For inspiring messages and comments of support and encouragement recently, specifically on my latest story 'Moving Through Walls' - (link above) It really does mean a great deal to me.

Art is only art because of an audience; an audience of one or more, not excluding anyone.

Anyway, a small message of big thanks today, London says Hi !

Now, tell me YOUR stories, I'm listening...

Dear Readers, Scribblers, Scribes, and Wordsmiths:

This week’s featured Proser is a musician, poet, and native of north-suburban Chicago, Illinois. He was gracious enough to give us an interview recently, which you’ll find transcribed below.

Who is @JTRedwood? What does he do?

Read on to find out...

“[My occupation has] been ever-changing throughout my life. I started out doing computer aided drafting and design. From there I got into the strange world of architectural terracotta masonry and helped restore old buildings. I recently made a bold move and started an apprenticeship to learn carpentry. I figure it will at least get me into shape.”

P: What is your relationship with writing and how has it evolved?

JT: I have always enjoyed reading and have been writing my thoughts down since I learned how. I fell in love with poetry in junior high and I penned many of my own poems. One night at a party sitting around a bonfire, a girl I was digging on asked me to recite one of these poems to her. Well, “I write a lot but I can’t remember any of my poems,” I tell her. From that night on I was determined to figure out how I can write poetry and memorize it all. I came up with a way to remember the lines by placing a silent beat to each poem. I now can think of the beat to a poem and all the words flow to me. Instead of just reciting poems to girls, I’d sing lullabies to them. Naturally this all worked well when I got into music and taught myself guitar and started writing my own songs. My writing has taken on its own character and a life of its own. Maybe I’m a slave to it, I don’t know.

P: Briefly discuss the value that reading adds to both your personal and professional life.

JT: I simply love and crave reading. I’ve learned almost everything I know through the act of reading and yet I will always have more to read about!

P: How would you describe your current literary ventures and what can we look forward to in future posts?

JT: I have started a daily journal documenting all the strange happenings I encounter in life. You really can’t make this stuff up so it’s the best inspiration for stories. I’m sure everyone knows what I’m talking about here. I’ve been gravitating toward short stories, been reading a lot of them and writing my own based on my own experiences or folk tales I pick up here and there. We’ll see where that takes me.

P: What called you to Prose? Describe your experience with the platform so far.

JT: I just stumbled over Prose while playing with my new iPad. It seemed like it could be refreshing and now has become something I look forward to. Reading new posts from other [“Prosers”] and spending the time to put down my own two cents can fill a void in my day. I really enjoy it all and believe it’s good for the human consciousness to read, to write, to think, to communicate.

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This #FridayFeature blog series is designed to help you get to know your fellow community members better. Would you like to nominate someone for interview? Have a question you’re dying to ask of someone on the platform? Send us a private message here or email info@theprose.com anytime.

I like you

Yes you,

you had your way of captivating anyone

With your beautifully written words

I am smitten

Im engrossed

with everything that you make

You--

make me feel alive

Like a fire that has been ignited inside

You're mysterious, yet open

You make my chest swell for this overpowering feeling

I cannot handle

It's been years

This is unfamiliar

And i'm scared

How do i get out?

and she called me "stupid" again today, and i cried again today, but not until she hit me again today, all before i bruised again today.

i felt that knot again today, the one that starts in my fingertips as she reaches over to punch me in the shoulder blades. it comes and goes every few days, but it's more difficult to let it go and drift away today.

she pinched me again today, and she punched me again today. and her words cut me again today, a little deeper than all the other days. and today the knots grew up in my finger tips and spread to my shoulder blades and all throughout my face in every single overwhelming way.

she called me a "whore" again today, she told me that my ex boyfriends only loved me for one thing. she doesn't realize i've never given anyone that thing, i've never even thoughtful about it for one single day. the knots developed in my fingertips again today, developed a little stronger in a lot of ways. it spread into my toes today, so painful that it nauseated me a little bit today. it took a little longer for me to get it to go away.

she punched me again today, told me i was worthless again today. she used all the right words to make me feel like the worst thing on this Earth today. I felt like shit again today. those tingling knots came up in my fingertips again today. i couldn't push them away today. they spread to my stomach and took over every cell in every place. i couldn't get it out today. i fell to the floor in wretched pain. and i said the words i've been fighting for so many days. i told her she was disgusting, to look at her own face. that painful hatred took me over and made me swollen with massive hate. now i feel the feelings she feels toward me and i feel the hate she must feel every day, and i hate myself and i say i'm sorry for the words i said today. and she said, "it's okay." but she didn't apologize to me today. and it's all my fault again today, just like every other day.