Meet Kelcie Martin

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Kelcie Martin.

Hi Kelcie, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I gave birth to premature twin boys in 2020. We stayed at St. Francis Medical Center NICU for 67 days during the height of the pandemic. I continued teaching online at my job and my husband was working for the fire department here in Pueblo while we were still in the hospital. This was a very scary time. My husband and I struggled mentally and physically. The boys came home on oxygen and started our lives.

After a year, I went back to the building and my husband was diagnosed with PTSD. It seemed like my life was sort of falling apart so I decided I wanted to start writing my story. I found solace in the stories of my childhood. I grew up on a 40k-acre ranch in eastern Colorado. That upbringing shaped the woman and the mother I am today.

My writing career started with a memoir about my motherhood journey and it turned into much more than that. I published my memoir, a children’s book, and a workbook. I switched jobs to work from home and support my husband’s mental health. My boys were diagnosed with autism, and I have spent the last three years advocating for them and their disability. Writing has been my escape and where I have found myself in motherhood.

I currently write for one of my hometown newspapers, and I am working on my second children’s book… and my very first sci-fi romance! I’ve built a network of other female-owned businesses and I connect through socials. I am proud to share my story and inspire other women to go after their dreams.

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
But no it has not been a smooth road. My kids had a rough start and since then my husband and I have struggled to get the services they need. We have battled waiting lists and insurance issues for the last three years and it has taken a toll on our marriage. My author business has been my escape from this stress.

As far as business goes, I am a self-published author so I have to financially invest in the publishing of all my books. I struggle with marketing and selling my books because a lot of self-published authors are at the mercy of algorithms.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My books are influenced by my rural upbringing! I am a multipassionate creative so what I write is all across the board. My children’s book Little Cowpoke Swings a Rope is what a lot of people know me for. It is a little girl trying new things and not fearing failure. It was a happy accident that I wrote this book during a very grueling therapy session with my memoir on motherhood. Going into my second year as an author, I have found a new confidence in myself I never had before.

I never saw myself writing a fictional book. I am in the trenches of a draft for a Cowboys and aliens-themed sci-fi romance! I am so excited for people to see this other side of me. I think I am the most proud of the relationships I have built throughout this process. I am very transparent about my journey and on several occasions, people compliment how straightforward I am with my feelings, whether that is in my writing or my social media.

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I am unapologetically myself. I don’t try to change myself to gain readers or an audience. I show the world who I really am, and the right people end up finding me.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @cowpokeswhocry
• Facebook: @Cowpokes Who Cry
• Other: https://linktr.ee/cowpokeswhocry

Image Credits
Emily Davidson and Amanda Montgomery