Lakisha Spletzer Garcia

I attribute my success to my deep love for reading and storytelling, which has been with me since I was a child. Reading has always been a safe haven for me. I was raised in a single-parent family as the oldest of three girls, and I was the nerd who always had her nose in a book. I read everything from encyclopedias to romance to sci-fi, history, and even the phone book at one point. I was bullied ferociously all the way through high school, a lot of it because of racism in the small rural town where I grew up in the 80s and 90s, and because I was intelligent. People didn't like that I was smart, and there was always something wrong. For a while, I hated people because they were so cruel. But I always promised myself that if I ever had kids, I would make sure they never had to feel that way. When my own daughter was being bullied in middle school, it drove me to write my first book, Weird Love, to inspire her to know that even though you might be perceived as weak or start off weak, you can get stronger and become confident. That experience, combined with my personality of being very people-oriented and wanting to help others, has been my driving force. To me, putting out stories that can inspire, impact, or move people is a great joy and high for me. I'm better when I can put pen to paper and express myself through my words, because I can always articulate what I want to say in writing. I was raised by strong females in my life - my mom, my grandmother - and I wanted to be a strong female not only for myself but for my kids. I have a son and a daughter, and I wanted them to see that strength can come in all shapes, fashions, and forms. Even though I look back at myself when I was younger and considered myself to be weak compared to the person I am now, I've grown through all the ups and downs, everything from school to dating, to getting married for the first time and getting divorced, to getting married for the second time and then becoming a widow. I just turned 47 today, and I sat back yesterday thinking about my life and the journey. My second husband Rich was an author as well, and I met him at a conference. It wasn't love at first sight because I had been burnt from the first marriage and divorce and hated all men at that point. But he was so friendly with this big smile, welcoming people to the Vampire corner at his table, and over six months he slowly chipped away at my walls until I said yes. In our wedding vows, he said he'd be happy to be my 50 shades of gray, which was so him and so perfect. That whole journey, all those experiences, have shaped who I am and driven my success.

Lakisha’s development has been influenced by fellow writers, educators, and creative peers within the writing and self-publishing communities. Her experiences at conventions and in author networks have helped shape her approach to storytelling and career sustainability.

If I had to give one piece of advice to women in general, and young girls, and young ladies, it's to not be afraid to take a chance, and then when you take a chance, don't be afraid to be tenacious. Fight for it. My life has been a study in fighting every step of the way for anything I ever wanted, for anything that I ever felt of value, for anything that ever mattered. And the biggest thing that I would say to them is, you are not alone. I am out here. Even if I don't know you, I'm just a stranger that could be a friend that you've not met before. So feel free to contact me, I answer people. I want to be welcoming, I want to be there for people. Whether you need help becoming a writer, whether you need help reading, whether you want to become an insurance agent, heck, maybe you want to be an astronaut, I want to help you. Because we have to give love to each other, and I don't feel like people give enough love. They're too busy and not caring. They're just not giving that empathy, they're not giving that caring, and I don't want to see that. I don't want that in the world. I'm a positive person. I know that everything is not going to always go my way, but I would try to fight the good fight, and make as much of it come true as possible for what I do. Just know that you are not alone, that there are people that are out there. You might have to hunt for us, but we're there. And, you know, if you can take anything from my story, and be inspired in some kind of way, then guess what? I feel myself blessed, and I feel like I've done a good job. For ladies out there, and even men, too, because I've known a few men in my life that have been in the same spot, just know that you are not alone. I've spent various points in my life where I've not been in a safe spot, and I've been in situations where my voice, my voice as a woman, my voice as a person, has been ignored, not heard, or just totally disregarded as, oh, you're just imagining stuff.

I've watched the technology change and evolve over the years since I started publishing in 2010. One challenge I've faced is that if you're an indie author on platforms like Amazon Kindle, you don't get as much luck because the algorithms are not in your favor, or as they say, the number of games are not in your favor. I was a little dissatisfied with how Amazon's Kindle Vella played out for indie authors, so I wanted to branch out and try to find other places to get my serial stories published. I ended up putting one of my serials on Inkit.com, which is a platform under a larger publishing platform, and the editor got back to me within like 2 days saying they loved what I'd published. That serial is almost at 150 chapters now. The opportunity I see is in trying different platforms and reaching different audiences. It's fun to reach out and try different things, whether it's serials or traditional novels, and connect with readers in new ways.

My driving value is always to help people, to help others. A lot of the jobs I've done have been customer-oriented and people-focused, whether in food service, as a radio DJ, teaching, or selling insurance. I'm very people-oriented. I like watching people, I like reading stories about people, and I love making up stories about people, whether they exist in reality or they're a mixture of personalities I've met. Reading has always been a safe haven for me, and I love stories. I've always loved just information, stories, and people. I always promised myself when I was younger that if I ever had kids, I would make sure they never had to feel the pain I felt from being bullied. Family is incredibly important to me. I'm very family-centric, because I was raised in a strong family with my mom, who's a strong individual, I had a strong grandmother, I had a lot of strong females in my life growing up, and so I wanted to be a strong female, not only for myself, but for my kids, because I have a son and a daughter. I wanted them to see that strength can come in all shapes, fashions, and forms. When my daughter was being bullied, I wrote a story to inspire her and show her that she could grow stronger and become a beautiful, confident young lady. To me, putting out stories that can inspire, impact, or move people in some fashion is a great joy. Even though some people may not like what I write, that doesn't upset me because we're all human and we all have different flavors and like different things. Just because my story is not your cup of tea doesn't mean there isn't another story out there that might be. I want to be welcoming, I want to be there for people. I can be walking off the street, and I smile because I'm going to have a good day, and people will come up and say I have a beautiful smile, or they'll say there's something about me that made them feel like it was okay to come talk to me. I always want to be that person. We have to give love to each other, and I don't feel like people give enough love. They're too busy and not caring. They're just not giving that empathy, they're not giving that caring, and I don't want to see that. I don't want that in the world. I'm a positive person. I know that everything is not going to always go my way, but I would try to fight the good fight, and make as much of it come true as possible for what I do. I try my best to make people feel safe, because I've spent various points in my life where I've not been in a safe spot, and my voice as a woman, my voice as a person, has been ignored, not heard, or just totally disregarded.