Author T.M. Witko

First off, WELCOME! I thought with the advent of new followers and the creation of my mailing list that this would be as good a time as any to let everyone know what’s going on. Plus it’s my birthday so it felt like a good day to be reflective 🙂

As you all know by now I have a day job as a psychologist. I love it. I love helping people. I love making a difference in people’s lives. I also love writing. It has been a passion of mine since I was a young girl. I was always the one lost in a book, the binding stretched thin from wear. When things were chaotic and unpleasant in my life I would create elaborate stories in my head, some with happy endings but most without. As I grew older I would turn that storytelling into fun games. While some may ‘people watch’ I took it a step further, creating backstories and anti heroes based on the folks I was observing. Then, I took a creative writing class in college. I struggled because it wasn’t how I wrote and when I left the class my dreams of being a writer were greatly diminished. That is until one of my English professors told me to write the story in my heart, that I was the only one who could tell it. He also told me that creative writing classes were for people who needed to learn to be creative, that I was already creative so to ignore the steps and do as I had been doing. While in my undergraduate I co majored in English and Psychology. Well, I ended up choosing psychology as a career. I don’t regret it all as it was the right choice at the time. I even published as a psychologist but what I discovered about myself  was that throughout the years of graduate school and professional authorship that I lost my creative voice. I sort of took for granted that it would always be there, waiting for me to call upon it but when it came time to draw on those creative juices, it was nowhere to be found. That’s where fan fiction came in. I met some beautiful ladies (Christy and Amanda) who pushed me to write, pushed me to tell my story, so I did. And in a three year period I had written eight full length stories and a few one shots (short stories for those non fan fiction people) which brings me to the present. I have discovered my love for writing again and as such have at least 20 different stories floating around in my head waiting to come out. So here is what I’m up to at the moment.

ROMANCE GENRE

The Helios Chronicles is an adult romance series of books that I am basing off of a couple of my fan fiction stories. While I will obviously be toning it down the story will basically be the same. A man with a difficult past meets a woman who gives him hope. Through her love he discovers that in spite of the things he’s done or the labels attached to him that he is worthy of happiness. One of the reasons I loved this story so much was that it involved a host of secondary characters that I absolutely adored. From the young man who befriended someone people believed was bad, to the openly gay couple that had a horrific journey on their road to living the life they were meant to live, to the grandma who offered sage advice and unconditional love to our female heroine, to the aunt & uncle of our hero who always believed in him even when he didn’t believe in himself and of course then there are the villains, and oh, are they easy to hate. I knew that if I were to publish any of my fan fiction it had to be Helios. His story just needed to be preserved. I’m anticipating having the first book in the series, a prequel about Helios earlier life, out summer, 2016.

SUSPENSE/MYSTERY GENRE

The Talionic Files is a suspense/crime drama series of books. The first book of the series is the only other fan fiction story of mine that I’m planning on publishing. That particular story follows an ATF agent in Chicago and a chef in New Orleans. Their lives cross paths in the hunt for a ruthless killer who has ties to organized crime in Chicago. This was my first attempt at writing suspense/drama and I absolutely fell in love with the genre. The ending of the first story leaves plenty of room to follow our heroes and heroines as they solve crime, live and love, and suffer at the hands of others. It should be a lot of fun! I’m expecting that the first book in the series should be out sometime in 2017.

Shattered Glass is a short story I am currently writing for the Thrill of the Hunt Anthology. It’s a psychological thriller about a teacher who begins seeing things that drive her crazy only to find out that she may already be there. It was a story I had in my mind for about a year but wasn’t sure I had enough to make it a full length story. After the Indie Book Fest in July 2015 one of the authors, Laura Perez, asked for people to contribute a piece to an anthology that was meant to chill, frighten or basically freak people out. The stories will likely range from serial killers to ghost stories to well, not exactly sure but I know it will be a creep fest. I’m excited and honored to be a part of it. We are expecting to have it out by the end of this year.