The beginning

Hi my name is Jacqueline Kay Veltrop Lycke. I know long name but it is the name I was born with and then got married and divorced from and never changed it. I was born on August 2, 1969 and I am one of the last of the sixties generation. Where has the time gone? I was born in Mesa, Arizona and my dad was in the Air Force so I was considered a military brat for some of my life but even now I still consider myself one even though my dad got out in May of 1970. I have had a long interesting and sometimes boring life depending on who you talk to. I have an older half brother who I haven't seen in over thirty years, a younger full blooded brother, James, who passed away from cancer almost 3 years ago at the age of 37. He was a great brother and sometimes a pain in my ass but he was my brother and I loved him. I have two other younger half brothers and I have yet to see either one of them. 

My parents were divorced in 1975 and so my brother, Jimmy, and I were left with my biological mom who was not the greatest mom in the world but she did what she could or least I think she did. I don't have a lot of memories of that time and sometimes I wonder if that's a good thing or not. When my dad and stepmom (#1) got married in 1976 they filed for custody of my brother and I and won, so on March 17, 1977 we went to live with them in Clovis, NM and that day was our "anniversary". That alone is another story in itself and I will delve into it later. This is more of an intro to me and who I am today. There are many "stories" to be told and they will be told in time. In 1984, my parents divorced and stepmom #1 adopted us on October 18th. We were fine for a time and it was hard since the split occured around Christmas but we made it and all went okay. Later she met someone else and seemed to be happy. 

As for me, I got married on July 10,1993 and then following year on July 6th, 1994 I had my wonderful son Dominic Andrew. He was the one bright life in my life. I never regretted having him and now 18 years later he still is the best accomplishment I have made in my life.

As for my writing I have been doing that off and on for over 40 years or close to it. No, I didn't start writing at age three but I did start back in elementary school with the tale of a spider who lived in the corner of my bedroom. I don't remember the whole story now since it was soooo long ago but I do remember it was one of my first stories. And my other passion is books. I haven't read too much lately because I have been so busy with work but I love books and maybe that combined with my love of writing has kept me somewhat sane over the years.

I always got accused of living in a fantasy world because I read a lot and stayed in my room quite a bit and didn't have a lot of friends but it was hard to make friends and trust and I still have that problem today. Too many people have burned me who I thought were my friends so I have built walls that are hard to take down because I think I can trust someone with my life and my secrets and they turn around and stab you in the back and it hurts when it happens and it has happened to me way to many times and yet I try again thinking it will be different and it never is.

I have always loved romance, even though my real life is no fairy tale or a romance with a happy ending. I am not totally cynical, yet but there are days when I feel like I am close. Holidays don't mean that much to me anymore but just reinforce how alone I am really am and what have I done wrong to be in this situation.  I have tried to journal my feelings in my writing and from past experiences it is hard to write down what I feel. I feel like one day it will end up in the wrong hands and all hell will break loose. It's like if I write it down I will be exposed and it will hurt if someone uses it against me. But I know I have friends in this world who are behind me 100% and have never let me down and are there for me and support me no matter what and to them I am thankful.

So as I go along with this new blog I hope to write down some of the stories of my life and how I have tried to develop as a writer and the friends I have made along the way who have been my cheerleaders and have given me some sound advice. I might even include some excerpts from the three books I have started. One is completely finished and need revision the other two are still waiting for completion.

Thanks to you Avery, Linda, Valerie and Adam and the rest of the Jefferson City Writer's Group, who without them I would not have rekindled my love of writing and making the attempt to finally publish a book.