Taking the plunge back to where I belong!

Have you ever sat back in your life and looked at where you are and wondered what kid you would think? (Yes I am completely aware that that sentence structure is actual garbage, no need to inform me!)

I've wanted to tell stories for as long as I can remember. My barbies led very dramatic lives, riveting tales of family drama, love, and surviving unbeatable odds. (It sounds really good when I write it out that way.) I know for a fact my Kelly doll survived more than one 'house fire' by hiding in the refrigerator, followed quickly by a bout of a mystery illness. (It was the chicken pox Kelly doll, I had to work with what I could.)

In middle school I discovered the wonder that was FanFiction, thanks mostly to a friend of my older sister's. This girl wrote tales based off of InuYasha and YuGiOh with self insert OCs for herself and her friends, and I quickly did the same thing. The stories I wrote featured myself, my friends, and characters were adored. Good times, good times.

While in middle school I started writing other things, mostly for assignments. They must have been relatively good - I had a short story and a poem published before going on to high school.

Writing fell to a back burner somewhat as life became more about high school things - for me that was marching band, grades, boys, changing friendships. Though it was neither the best nor the worst years of my life, you could not pay me to go back and do it again. Those four years ended and off to college I went, albeit with a freshly decimated heart and no sense in what I really wanted to do or be.

Fanfiction was there to pick up the pieces. I did a nearly three year stent of writing and posting quite regularly stories based off of television shows and films that I enjoyed. I sometimes think about going back to them...

College was... interesting... While I initially wanted to pursue writing, mentors, my family (and let's be real - scholarship money) led me into studying music. My Alma Mater boasts one of the best music schools, along with many other programs that attract national and global attention at times. I went through the motions, doing what I thought I was supposed to, but never really feeling like I was truly playing the part. Imposter syndrome has always been a steady companion of mine.

Half way through undergrad, I became a mom. Life with a child, school, a partner from a... we'll say, an interesting family... Needless to say, story telling wasn't at the forefront of my mind. I did participate in Camp NaNoWriMo when my son was about 3 months old. I thought that story was going to be, like... the one. It was not. It will remain buried away, never to see the light of day again.

Career started in 2013 - teaching music full time was, in fact, the amount of work of 2-3 full time jobs. I tried to edit the terrible NNWM manuscript, realized it was bad (like... bad bad...) and continued with life. I changed jobs to be closer to home and have more time with family (yeah, the literal opposite happened, but I love my school and community), we bought our own house, we had another baby... life was trucking along, my long held dream of being a writer something I just sort of... let go of.

Then 2020 happened.

I don't know a single person that did not use escapism to handle the horrors of the pandemic and everything else that was happening in the world that year. That was the year that I found a certain book about an illiterate 19 year old trying to feed her impoverished family. And something started stewing in my brain...

Since then, I've devised quite a few stories that I plan to put out into the world. A retelling of The Nutcracker, a DND inspired romantasy, and the rewritings on my own past lives (I'll talk more about them in another post). There are heaps more, scribbled away in various notebooks and entries on my notes app in my phone. I just hope that the stories that are simmering away in my mind give something to readers. An escape, a sense of belonging, or a nice bit of smut to spice up their day.

This is a really condensed version of events, but thanks for taking the time to read through them all. Welcome aboard!