Who is S.L. Mabe?

That is the most loaded question I’ve ever had to answer. But let’s start simple. My name is Summer. I was born and raised in Michigan and moved to Tennessee in my twenties. I’ve been writing since I was a kid. My grandma wrote poetry and taught me to express myself through words. Yes, I went through the angry, emotional poetry phase when I thought no one understood me. However, in my thirties, I realized that I was the one who didn’t understand me. I still struggle with it sometimes.

In middle school, my teacher presented a book to the class, written by a girl my own age. From that point on, I wanted to write my own. Back then, though, I didn’t think I was good enough, smart enough, or creative enough. All of that self-loathing stemmed from trauma from my past and my home life at the time. Up until I was five, it was just my mom and me. Then she married a man who had some (undiagnosed and unmedicated) mental health issues and took it out on us (mentally, not physically). After they divorced, when I was nineteen, it was just my grandparents and us when we moved to Tennessee. My aunt and uncle stayed in Michigan and are still there, but they are still very much part of my life.

In 2008, my mom was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). It started slow (affecting her balance) and got worse over the years. She is now in a powerchair losing the use of her hands. In 2016, I made the decision to quit my job and become her full-time caregiver. Doing that allowed me to finish my bachelor’s degree in psychology and start my novel-writing adventure. It also kept me from worrying about her well-being. I suffer from generalized anxiety disorder(GAD), so worrying is what I do best.

2019 was one of the worst years I’ve experienced thus far, and it isn’t because of the pandemic. My grandma passed unexpectedly in May of that year. She was one of the reasons I began writing in the first place. Before she passed, she was working on editing and publishing her book of poetry called ‘The Dark Side of Mother Wonderful.’ After she passed, I took it upon myself to continue her editing and publish it on Amazon. I’d like to think she would have been thrilled to see her work in book form.

Currently, I’m waiting on the artist I hired to illustrate the first book in a series of children’s books called ‘Caleb and the Light Show.’ My hope is that they will be published early to mid-2022. I’m also working on a collection of short stories I modeled after my favorite book by my favorite author, The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury. No title for the book yet, but I have about 95% of it written. All that is left now is an ending and editing. The title and book cover will have to wait until after the project is complete. I have ideas for three more books which will be outlined soon. I enjoy writing many different genres: science fiction, speculative fiction, serial killer fiction, children’s stories, poetry, and mystery/thriller. So far, I’ve primarily written short stories, but novels are in the works.

As a glass-half-full kind of woman, I try to keep the peace in my life. Most of the time, I stay pretty calm and levelheaded. On the other hand, I am human, and I am not perfect. I tend to change my mood based on those around me. If there is negative energy filling the room, it will reflect through me. My anxiety doesn’t always control my life, but it has on occasion. I’m mostly a private person, especially when it comes to intimacy. Still, I have recently discovered that I am a hetero-demisexual. This means I am heterosexual, but my demi side prevents me from being intimate without a deep emotional connection. This designation has always been me but began with trauma from childhood all the way through my adult years. I’m still healing, but I’ve forgiven those people for their mistreatment and often use those events in my life as fodder for writing.

Why am I sharing this with you? Well, you need to know that no matter what you’ve been through, no matter what you’re going through now, no matter how you feel about yourself, you deserve to be happy and successful in whatever you feel passionate about. Don’t let other people’s opinions of you dictate who you are. As long as you’re doing what makes you happy, who cares what they think. Find your passion and pursue it with everything you’ve got. Be excited about your journey going forward, and don’t feel threatened or inadequate by competition or opinion. Cheer each other on and keep going.

With love and kindness,

S.L. Mabe