Ten years later I delivered my first and only child two months early. Two years after that, my fatigue was much worse. I was taking two to three hour naps daily. I chalked it up to the fact that I had a hyper toddler. But the IBS was worsening, too. By the time my little girl was in preschool, I was sleeping about 12 hours a day. Doctors said I was being lazy, and despite the myriad drugs they crammed down my throat, I became so sick that I thought I was dying. By this time my entire body was covered in rashes, bruises and I’d gained 20 pounds. My neck had also swollen to the point that I choked on my food. Can you believe I still had a hard time convincing doctors something was wrong with me?

Finally, one doctor believed I was sick. She put me on depression drugs because ‘my depression was depressing her’ and sent me to an endocrinologist because she suspected thyroid disease. This endo (who supposedly specializes in the thyroid) said nothing was wrong with me and so did his colleague. I found a new endocrinologist, one with a Harvard medical degree. She had no idea what was wrong.

By this point, I was so sick, I could hardly function. There were days when I’d sleep up to 14 hours. I was too sick to eat much, yet I continued to gain weight. My preschooler spent much of her after-school time playing alone. I was tired, in pain and riddled with guilt. The worst was the fear of dying and leaving my little daughter without a mother. A far cry from the party girl of my youth.

But I mustered enough strength to take my health into my hands and surf the internet. Doctor Google helped me to diagnose my illness. I went to my endo and asked her to test me for Hashimoto’s Thyroid Disease. The test came back positive and she put me on thyroid hormone. It gave me more energy but did little to diminish the debilitating fibro pain. By this point, I was dependent on prescription pain killers to get through each day. This doctor said little to me about diet, vitamins or other hormone levels that generally go hand-in-hand with my disease.

Then I met my friend Alice. She runs a Hashimoto’s support group on Facebook called Hashimoto’s 411. You can also find me there as a moderator. She turned me on to holistic health as a way to treat my disease and introduced me to the book that changed my life, written by Dr. Kharrazian.

I’ve discovered that I am extremely intolerant to the protein gluten, found in most breads and pastas among many other foods. I also have a few more trigger foods that cause pain throughout my body. I had my daughter tested and found out she has a high antibody count against gluten as well. We are both gluten-free with amazing results. My naps are down to about 15 minutes a day. I have switched doctors and see a holistic MD and chiropractors who treat the underlying causes of Hashimoto’s. The weight is slowly coming back off. I am exercising and feeling better than I have in years, but this disease still has taken a toll on my body and robbed me of precious time with my family. I would not wish it on anyone.

During the height of my illness, I’d have a few days or even a few weeks where I felt somewhat normal. This was when I’d write. I wrote Krysta’s Curse during the onset of my decline. This may be why this book is darker than my other YAs. I also wrote a few adult comedies which are published under another pen-name, although these books are not appropriate for my YA audience.  Why did I write them? Well, I’ve always believed that adversity is handled better with laughter.  And believe me, I needed the laughs.

My health journey to hell and then back has helped me grow as a writer and as a human being. It has given me introspection into true human suffering and made me a much better person. I am no longer that silly superficial snob you see in the above picture, but a person who has experienced pain, fear, hope and resurrection.

What is the prize, you ask? Why, not monetary compensation, but the opportunity to have your artwork on her novel and an interview on her blog. After perusing her blog, I see she’s a relatively new author with a small following. So basically, she’s asking for me to invest my valuable time and money into creating a piece of artwork that may or may not qualify me for a spot on her blog.

Hmmm. I think I’ll pass, and not just because I have several loyal PAYING customers plus a publishing house to keep me busy, but because I’m offended, HIGHLY offended, at this author’s lame attempt to get something for nothing.

For whatever reason, it appears a few artists have lowered their standards and entered her contest. The entries I saw appear to be the same few covers reworked with a variety of fonts and shades.

Tsk tsk, fellow artists. Have you no shame that you will give away your talents for free? Do you not realize that if this contest catches on, other authors will also expect you to work for nothing? Are you one of the few artists who actually has no bills to pay and who has loads of time to invest your creative talents for free?

Authors, your book is your baby. You have spent months, maybe even years nurturing this book. You’ve researched plot, motivation and conflict. You know your characters as well as you know your own family members.  You have invested your time and your heart into this book and now you need to shine it up and prepare to present it to the world.

The first thing your readers will see before reading that blurb or the first chapter is the cover. A good artist will be able to capture the tone of your book and use the rules of composition to make the cover appealing to readers.

In other words, a good artist will maximize your selling potential by creating an eye-catching cover, and you should show appreciation to your artist by paying him/her a fair wage. After all, you don’t want to be a one book wonder, the author who publishes one book and then fades into obscurity. By establishing a good relationship with an artist, you can depend on having quality artwork for all of your future projects.

Remember that old adage, “You get what you pay for.” It applies with cover art, too. Would you spend hours detailing the inside of your car and then leave the outside caked in mud and bug splat? Would you spend valuable time and money remodeling your home and then neglect to paint the outside? Why would you spend so much time on your masterpiece and then try to scam an artist into creating work for you for free? It’s degrading and humiliating to the artist, and in the long run, will leave a sour taste in the artist’s mouth, especially after she’s designed a free cover for you and then other authors expect her to do the same.

Like I’ve said before, I have a loyal base of clients. They respect my work and I respect them. If you go to my indie artwork page, you will see most of my covers are for repeat authors. Why? Because they appreciate my talents and I try my hardest to create covers that reflect their visions.

Why, then, would I give away my work to someone who doesn’t respect my efforts? And if I did create free artwork for this author, I’m sure that my loyal paying customers would be equally angered.

Indie authors, if you’ve seen this contest or contests like this one, I kindly ask you not to follow suit. Sure, you might attract a few artists who obviously lack confidence in their work if they are willing to work for free, but mostly, you will end up pissing off quality artists and their paying customers.

Let’s rewind my life back six years ago. I had a two-year-old daughter with sensory issues whom I didn’t feel was adjusting to daycare. I LOVED teaching high school and my journalism students, but I had to make the difficult choice to leave my life as a teacher behind and put family first. Not to mention, I was always sick and tired and waking up every day to go to work was becoming more of a chore (a few years later I’d be diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Disease).

Shortly after I quit teaching, most of my time was dedicated to my child, and, of course, my obsession with photography. While I was actively involved with my local romance writers’ group, I met two really nice owners of a new publishing house. I showed them my photography and PhotoShop designs (mostly of my little girl) and began working for them as a cover artist. That was almost six years ago. Since then, I feel I’ve grown as an artist and as a writer.

I also initially published my Whispers series with this publisher. We parted ways when they closed down their YA line, but thanks to the self-publishing boom, I was able to put my books back on the market. Thanks to the self-publishing, I’ve also developed a prolific freelance artist business. It’s the best of both worlds. I get to spend my days writing and designing artwork. And even though I’ve often thought about going back to teaching, my focus now has to be my family, my health and my writing/design career. I don’t know if I will be able to fit a full-time teaching career into the equation, not especially since I’ve made so many strides toward better health.

I’m busy working on book four with my new writing partner. Details coming soon, I promise. Let me just say that she’s a formatting genius, a very creative paranormal author,  a practicing witch and a TOTALLY cool person.

In the meantime, I’d love to share some of my artwork with you. I’ve got many more covers on my site: www.tarawest.com but here’s a few I’ve designed for Indie authors. And believe me, I don’t want to slight any authors. Picking favorites was hard, so I’ve limited today’s covers to just those authors who write YA. After all, we YA writers gotta stick together.

Some of my readers have asked if I plan on publishing book 4 in the Whispers series, and the answer is YES! I’m already planning the girls’ sophomore year, and I promise you won’t be disappointed.

For those of you who don’t know the full story, my Whispers series once had a home with a publishing company. After they discontinued their YA line, Whispers no longer had a home and other publishers didn’t want to finish out the series.  So I quit writing them. I never envisioned that I’d soon be able to self-publish these books thanks to the ereading revolution.

I’ve been seriously writing for about ten years and now is a good time to be an indie writer. Before, it was considered taboo to publish a book without the backing of a publishing house, but thanks to pioneers like John Locke, Amanda Hocking and J. A. Konrath, many indie writers are finding success without publishers. I sure hope I turn out to be one of those authors. So far, my reader reviewers are giving me quite a bit of hope.

Click to read reviews.

Thanks for stopping by! Tara

Sophie’s Secret’s has been updated and rereleased on Kindle, Nook and FREE on Smashwords.

Sophie Sinora and her BFFs struggle to keep their strengthening paranormal powers secret while trying to fit in at school. Her teacher’s suicidal thoughts, a threatening locker bully, a teasing school flirt, her  hormonal pregnant sister, and the tension between Sophie and her friends, only add to her problems. Hopefully, she can fix them in time to save her teacher’s life and her social life.

Don’t Tell Mother is also on Kindle, Nook and Smashwords.

AJ’s mounting frustrations at home and school could turn her into a ticking time bomb. She knows the first step to solving her problems is to gain acceptance from her mother. Then AJ’s green-haired boyfriend knocks on the door. AJ’s ability to foretell the future is driving her and her mom further apart, and if she doesn’t tell her mom about her horrible vision soon, her brother will die.

Krysta’s Curse is also available on Kindle, Nook and Smashwords.

Krysta Richard’s ability to talk to spirits is getting in the way of her social life. Just as the chemistry between her and her lab partner, Bryon, is about to ignite, a homicide detective asks her to summon a murder victim, her drunk father suddenly takes an interest in her life and her dead friends enlist her in a crusade to save their decrepit cemetery.