Today we’d like to introduce you to Selma P. Verde
Hi Selma P., can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I am an author of teen and young adult fiction. I started writing with a diary when I was a pre teen. You know the ones with the locks and little keys? Well writing my thoughts on a daily basis turned into writing short stories and silly plays. I still have the spiral notebooks and notebook paper that some of those stories are written on. As I finished high school, my writing took a bit of a back seat as I decided to pursue an accounting major at the University of Minnesota. Half way through the program, I decided I wanted to become a teacher. So, I changed my major to Sociology to teach social sciences upon graduation. Well, I graduated and went to sign up to continue on to a masters degree. I looked around and saw that there weren’t too many jobs in teaching available. So, I went back to finish the accounting degree that I had started and worked in retail and accounting fields.
After a few years of working, I decided to pick up my writing again. I started to get some ideas on paper for a young adult novel series I wanted to write focusing on the challenges that teens face. This is where my passion for teaching came back around to help me write these books in a way as to make the stories relatable to teens. I published my first novel, The Hard Way, in 2017. Since then, two more books have come into The Way Series, with a fourth one due to release either late 2025 or early 2026.
I have also created Mentoring A Dream, a website dedicated to helping parents help their teens succeed. After I finish book #4, I plan to continue to develop that website and program.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Life seems to always throw curve balls into the path of pursuing a dream. It was my dream since that pre teen writing in diaries to publish a book. At that time I wasn’t sure what it was going to be about, but I dreamed to publish.
One of the struggles was what to write about. It wasn’t clear what I was going to write about. Timing is everything and when I picked my writing up again, the topic of teen challenges came into my mind and the ideas started flowing down on paper and keyboard.
Another struggle was time. It didn’t happen overnight. It took a lot of time to get to the ideas and then it is a process to write the actual novel. Not to mention that other things in the normal course of life would come along to take my time away from writing
And, one more struggle for me was the money to publish my book. I decided to self-publish my novels. To do it the best way, it takes a financial investment into an editor, cover designer, and marketing. It took a little bit of time to get the money in place while helping the man in my life raise his two sons. So, I took a bit of a delay after finishing my first novel to publish it.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Some times we need to work a full time job while pursuing what we love to do. My professional life is different from the creative life I hope to have full time some day.
In my professional life, I am a Data Reporting Analyst for a local insurance firm. I analyze insurance data that gets reported to state and national bureaus. I currently work a hybrid schedule with two days in the office and three days work from home. I enjoy the problem solving and the attention to detail that the analyst role requires. I also update our standard operating procedures and present a team meeting once month for team building, to work on soft skills, and learn more about the insurance industry.
Any big plans?
Looking forward to publishing book four of The Way Series.
Once my young adult series is completed and hits best selling status, or at least pays the bills, I plan to go out and about on speaking engagements to promote the book series and the vision of helping parents to help their teens succeed of Mentoring A Dream. Even if book sales don’t pay the bills, the next step in my journey is to develop Mentoring A Dream into a resource to help parents and teens and promote The Way Series as a way to support it.
Pricing:
- The Hard Way – Paperback book – $15.00 and the ebook $3.99
- Shawn’s Way – Paperback book – $15.00 and the ebook $3.99
- The Street’s Way – Paperback book – $15.00 and the ebook $3.99
- Josh’s Story – Short Story – Paperback $8.00 and the ebook – $3.99
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.selmapverde.com
- Instagram: @selmapverde
- Facebook: @selmapverde
