That in itself is a long story. Where to start? So, I’ve written books and songs since I was a kid as a way to escape. When I finished college and became a teacher, I decided to write a novel that all students could read and gain hope from. I didn't want to sugarcoat the real world too much. However, I did want to show them that, even though fairytale endings don't really happen, the fact that you are able to make it through a difficult part of your life is why you should always know that there is hope at the end of every trial. I finished that first novel, contracted with a literary agent, wrote more books and published them, and then I started winning book awards.

After that I found myself wondering if I could turn those 80,000 worded stories into movies so that I could reach non-readers as well. I had always loved movies. After all, I was the Terminator and Alien franchises' biggest fan! But I never thought that I could ever break into such a tough industry. As I continued to network and meet people, I decided to give screenwriting a try. I took some online classes and then decided to turn my newest novel, The 12th Letter, into a screenplay. It was incredibly hard. Because we only have about 2 hours to deliver a story in movie format, I had to cut so many subplots and character backgrounds out from the novel. I was pulling out my hair because I worried that an audience of viewers would never really get to know these characters like my readers did. After many months, I realized that sometimes the mystery is better than the reveal when it comes to characters and secondary storylines. Sometimes, it's more about the viewer putting the pieces together with their own imagination, perspectives, and backgrounds. And the beauty of it all, is that you let the viewer do it while they are able to experience your story with sound and gorgeous scenes unfolding in front of their eyes.

Honestly, I haven't written a song in years until I wrote the theme song for The 12th Letter. When we started the entire film process, I wasn’t thinking about the music at all until one afternoon after having a bad day, a song came to me. I was in tears as I wrote the lyrics down because the words reflected exactly what veterans feel. I didn’t realize that I was so emotionally immersed in the film that I began to hear its music too. After I got home and composed the piano portion, I immediately thought that the song should be in the movie. But I couldn’t sing it. I needed the right person. And I found that person in Nashville & Australian Recording Artist, Emmaline. We had known each other & supported each other for years on social media. When I reached out to Emmaline, it was like it was meant to be. She loved the song! But the best part was that she was already beginning a career as a music supervisor for films. She had all these great ideas about the rest of the soundtrack, so I just let her take off with it. She’s that amazing!

The film was going to be a feature film first. When I pitched my novel to film idea to two studios, they loved the concept. However, they wanted to see a short film version first. I had already written the full feature screenplay but had to cut that down to a short film.

Yes, it does. Originally, I thought we'd be thankful to just get selected for a festival but when we started winning awards, I was blown away. Jeff Smee did most of the work as our director. I was just there to give my input. Movie making is very different from novel writing.

You need to understand, my writing career was me sitting at a coffee shop ‘people watching’, to hanging out at libraries for hours researching for my book, to locking myself in my office all day for days on end just to finish a few chapters. I was accustomed to being, what my brother used to call me as a kid, ‘a hermit’. Now, in a filmmaking role, I’m having to actually ‘talk’! And a lot. Since I wrote the screenplay for both the short film, feature film & I wrote the novel, I could see the entire vision for this story that no one else could see yet. In my mind, I saw the character interactions, I heard the music, I felt the pain, heck, I lived in Sgt. Reynolds’ personal hell for months when I had to put myself in his shoes to write his part of the story. None of these moments could be easily translated to the cast & crew. Therefore, I decided that anytime I met a new member of our team, I’d remind them of how at that time of day, let’s say it was 2:00 pm, we had probably already lost 10 veterans to suicide. After that initial reveal & shocker, all I could do was hand them the script, watch them table read, add give a little feedback.

However, our director, Jeff Smee, was easily able to run with the screenplay and with our talented actors like James Quinn & James Storm, the movie miraculously came to life!

That's a great question! I have already started moving in that direction now. I started a business with my husband to help authors turn their books into film, too. The business is called J & J Ranch Productions. Our team consists of another talented and award winning author, Ella Clarke. Our vision is to support new and debut writers in the areas of book publishing, screenwriting, and film while also helping with media exposure, marketing support, and providing professional advice. One of the packages includes help turning an author’s novel into a screenplay and another package is us turning their screenplay into a film where I'll direct it. I really want to help other authors make their dreams come true. Anyone can check us out at: JJRanchProductions.com I once read a quote that said, "The best songs are still unsong, the best stories are still unread." I believe there are tons of talented people out there that neither have the time nor resources to get their stories out to the world. I want to be the one to help change that.

As a writer, I am not a big talker but I am a huge listener. That’s our talent: listening & watching. Even though my own husband & our producer, Robert Hovorka, came back from 2 wars with his 'possibly anecdotal' accounts (because he never really shared everything with me) of what he saw & how hard it was and how it changed him, I never could get him to talk about his time at war. However, not until I got him & one of his war buddies, Manny, in a restaurant together with a few drinks. They served together as Marines in Somalia for their first tour. And it ended up being the worse. Even though the Marines were sent there on a peacekeeping mission in the beginning, it changed quickly. The Marine’s job was to ensure the people of Somalia were being fed because the rival clans were taking the food from the innocent people to maintain power. America still required Marines to not fight, only hand out food. It all changed when the first Marine was killed, Domingo Arroyo Jr., which was a close friend of my husband. After that, combat began.

I listened to my husband’s & his friend’s pain as they spoke of what happened there & what happened in future wars they went on to fight in. I also listened to the stories that came out of the organization my family runs, the Warrior Bonfire Organization, where they take disabled veterans on ski & hunting trips.

What I found in all of these situations, is that veterans don’t open up to family about their struggles, but they open up to each other. Therefore, I knew I had to write a story to help raise awareness of the silent hell military veterans are in. Not just veterans from America.

Most of the crew was introduced to us by the film’s lead actor, James Quinn. We didn't know much about the movie making side yet. Therefore, my husband & I reached out to James first to see what he thought & if he wanted to help. He had appeared as a guest on my writers podcast the year before and had read my novels. Since he lived in Pennsylvania & we were in Texas, we pitched the film idea to him by phone and he jumped on it! He put together most of the team from people he’s worked with that he knew were good at what they did. When we were looking to cast Larry Wheeler, our Texas veteran, James Quinn mentioned James Storm, who is also a professional wrestling champion. After my husband spoke to James Storm by phone, he knew he’d make a great Larry Wheeler. The voice of Sister Margaret is Alaina Fordice, my only family in this movie this time. Alaina went to college in California for acting and has played many roles set in historical times. Her ability to quickly pick up the accent and the formal demeanor of a nun from 1900 was amazing. Still, I had to run it by the film team. Thankfully, the crew loved her audition tape. But I was just excited that I could be the one to give her the good news!

Besides my husband, we also had input from our close friend and former Navy Corpsman, Kyle Barnes, as well as receiving pictures (for the movie's closing credits) and stories from Purple Heart veterans with the Warrior Bonfire Organization.

We need more mental health programs where veterans have opportunities to spend time with each other. Also, we need a better plan put into place to help them reacclimate into civilian life when they come home. When my husband got back from his second war, all they did was haul them into a room the size of a gym and pass out papers with information. No one spoke to them, asked how they were doing, nothing. It was just a quick: here’s some information you made need and good luck to you. Coming back from seeing what they saw and living in that horrible existence for months on end and then being thrown out to the streets with a simple, “Good luck to you” doesn’t work. The human mind & heart are extremely fragile. Once it’s been cracked or in some cases shattered, it needs time & help to heal.

Yes! On top of being my wonderful husband, Robert "Johnny" Hovorka is a United States Marine Corps veteran having served in two wars, both Somalia and Iraq, over a twenty year period as a combat Marine. He was in law enforcement for a bit and a celebrity bodyguard, too! I enjoy seeing all the pics of him with celebrities & even presidents! His life is way cooler to talk about than mine, minus his hidden wounds, of course.

Inspiring veterans is our goal. But our plight is two-fold. One, we want veterans who watch the movie to realize that they are not alone. All it takes is that first huge step of speaking to someone about your pain or putting it down into words in a journal. Pain like that should be shared or it will weigh you down.

And two, we want to raise awareness of the tragic statistic of how America is losing 22 veterans a day to suicide. And if it’s happening at a rate this high in America, it has to be effecting veterans from other countries as well.

Maybe then, everyone will be cognizant of it that they may even reach out to see how they can help, too.

We will continue to help Warrior Bonfire raise funds for the programs they offer to disabled veterans.

As far as the military is concerned, they are doing the best they can with the funds given to them by our government. That is why a feature film like The 12th Letter needs to be made. All it takes is one politician to see it, be moved by it, and realize that more funding needs to be allocated to VA programs. Our governments send these young men and women off to war by making them machines in a sense. We forget that they have feelings and families that they will come home to. Or in some cases, they come back to no homes or families at all.

Mr. Smee is a quiet, yet intense director. He’s always thinking, always focused. When I had a thought or idea, I sometimes felt bad interrupting his creative moment because he got so involved in his work. However, he’s also the sweetest. When I told him my thoughts, he never seemed aggravated at me. He simply thought about it, then changed something up, and we began again. It was incredibly kind because I can only imagine he spent hours having already prepared, only for me to change it on the fly. But he was open to everyone’s ideas, which was nice to see. He really is the best at what he does.

Our goal is to make The 12th Letter into a feature film. The screenplay that I wrote for it as a feature film has also won some awards by itself. Therefore, all we need now is the right studio and/or investors to help us make it happen. I will continue to pitch it at every convention I go to until we get it a home!

I have a young adult science fiction book series written, the first one is already published. Because of its success, I have been debating turning it into a screenplay for a tv series. It's about a seventeen-year-old girl who has dodged abusive foster homes and is surviving on the streets of Houston, all in order to achieve her STEM dream to become the first Latino female astronaut to spacewalk. She discovers a Native American artifact but it is not of this world. This show will be similar to Shadow & Bone and kinda like a new Star Trek, but for the new and younger generation.