The Stories I Write

My New Year's resolution is to keep writing and self publishing.

My stories are short stories, though I'd love to write a novel, maybe expand one of my short stories into one. Until I can work on that, I still want to keep doing the short stories. I feel like there is a lot to touch on. There are still plenty of other things to write about.
When it comes to reading, I like different genres, but I probably enjoy mystery and suspense the most; I like that "element of surprise" ending that jumps out at you.
I like to write those kind of stories too, though it can be difficult. I like to write stories with a lot of emotion, a little humor, and characters who have a secret they're hiding. The plot doesn't necessarily have to revolve around a mystery.
My stories usually have some romance in them. I love when the guy gets the girl, though he doesn't always. I find myself writing about people getting second chances at love after a mistake, or just a bad first impression, or after losing someone they loved. Whatever the case, their road to happiness always has potholes.
I love history, so I'll set my stories in different eras, sometimes going back and forth. I haven't dabbled in sci-fi or adventure stories, and I'm not likely to. I sometimes feel like my stories may only appeal to women because of that. Maybe it's just that whole notion about women wanting to see a romantic comedy while the guys want to go to see the action movie.
I get inspiration from my memories and my dreams a lot. I recently wrote a story about a family that centers around a teenage son. The entire story came about from a childhood memory I have of a house near where my family once lived. I didn't know the people who lived there, but I imagined them back then as a kid. All these years later, I turned the people I imagined lived in that house into the characters for my story. I combined a house that was in one of my dreams with the house I remember from our old neighborhood in creating the family's home in my story.
I am a sucker for a happy ending, though I write sad ones too.  I have written some dark stuff, but there are some dark areas I won't go near. Some topics are off limits. But I hope to write some more scary stuff in the coming year. I'm sure I'll have some nightmares that I may be able to get ideas from.