Please welcome Lady C. E. Miller to the Writer's Journey Blog this week. Accomplished Artist and Poet, Author of her own Novel Series, she is also my eldest daughter of whom I am so proud!
I never thought of being a writer, I was a horsewoman. An animal lover who saved every creature that crossed my path and loved them all. (Still do.) I am a little different than most writers because I didn’t discover my love for writing anything but poetry until I was older.
When I was young, I had a hard time. I wasn’t particularly good at school and I wasn’t really cut out for the classroom thing. I didn’t get in trouble, but it was difficult to learn because every movement and every little noise distracted me. I always wrote poetry to move the things inside to the outside. I didn’t finish high school, but I got my equivalency right away once I left school.
I went to work on ranches. In my twenties, I broke horses and did general ranch hand work, but traveled a lot. I never really found a place I felt comfortable or like I belonged. I never found a home. A bad experience disturbed and haunted me in those early years, and I began to have anxiety.
Later, I married and settled down in a place and with someone where I am happy. Yet the fear and anxiety never left me, in fact, it got worse. My real writing journey began when I was in the midst of turmoil suffering from anxiety to the point I had to take medication.
I was diagnosed with clinical depression, it was a dark time and not many people understood what was happening to me. I felt completely alone. I am happy to say it is largely behind me now, but my journey through writing this book was a big part of that. This journey helped me to overcome that fear I was holding on to.
I immersed myself in the horse culture of the Middle East and was surprised to find so much outside interest. It began as simply research into the Arabian Horse Culture. I had always been interested in it. I made friends and as the idea took hold, I went from anxiety-ridden loneliness to a project that introduced me to people worldwide. I could never have imagined the journey I was about to embark on. Soon, the affiliation with so many others took my mind into a future where I dreamed that I could actually write a book and publish it! Writing Forget Me Not... the Epic was a grand adventure in itself!
The first time I held my book in print was a victory.
Probably the proudest moment of my life and although I do not have children, it must have felt a little like the joy of giving birth. I had fair sales, but the manuscript was too long. It is an epic story of a fictional family, (magical realism), but the horse... the horse is all Arabian history.
It is a better story now and I am a better writer for the bumps and bruises. I am riding again today although it took considerable courage to get back on a horse... it took just as much courage to decide to put my book out there again. An altogether different journey than the first. It is like me, a story of hardship and fear, courage, and triumph.
BIO: Christy Miller writes under the pseudonym Lady C. E. Miller, having been given an honorary title from Dunans’ Castle in her quest of Ancestry. She lives in southeast Texas on a small farm where they have horses, cattle, sometimes goats... chickens, rabbits, dogs and cats, and a general menagerie. She spends her time photographing, writing, and painting. Sharing the country life with her husband and their four-legged family.
Watch for the Release of Forget Me Not... The Epic Part I in Spring 2021! You can find Lady C.E. Miller online at:
Hi Elaine. Thank you so much for sharing your daughter's story. It's a story of survival and as such is very inspiring. And to Lady C. E. here's wishing all the best of success in the future. If what you wrote for his bio is an indication of your writing style, keep it up! You've got a lot of talent :)
Yes, P.C. She is my oldest daughter. I'm so proud of her. She has overcome some huge obstacles considering her dyslexia and the anxiety she fought later in life. She is doing very well! Thanks for reading!
An amazing tale of perseverance. I didn't know you two were related. :)
Thank you Mark. I am proud. She is fiercely independent and yes, any animal on that farm is pampered.
Thank you PritiJ. She is a joy to me!