As I near my 5-year anniversary of the publication of my first novel, The Keeper, I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting. Going back over posts and blogs and bits and pieces of writing from the past. Reminding myself of what it felt like at the beginning. How scared I was and how excited.
Between now and my actual 5-year anniversary in November, I’m going to be sharing some of the things I wrote 5 years ago. Old blog posts and Facebook ramblings and bits of writing that never actually made it anywhere. I’ll be sharing some of my ups and downs and fears and excitement. Because it’s so important to remember what that beginning felt like. And because it’s so important to recognize how far I’ve come.
From the blog post “I AM AN AUTHOR”, published November 17, 2016:
I’ve been a writer all of my life. That has never been a question.
When I was a kid, I wrote weird stories about mermaids.
When I was in junior high and high school, I wrote stories about my own life, fictionalizing my experiences to create dramatic flair and recreating relationships with guys I had crushes on.
When I was in college I was a part of the student newspaper at my university and wrote a handful of articles for a local newspaper. I took creative writing courses and journalism courses, oftentimes swaying a little too much towards flowery writing and opinion over hard news.
After I graduated and had a normal 9-5 job working at a law school, I enrolled in an amazing writing workshop called Writers at Work, led by an amazing author named Terry Wolverton. My time in that class helped me rethink my approach to writing, and I was able to get critique from and bounce ideas off of several amazing women (Judy McGee, Sarah Forth, Nina Rota, Meher McArthur) who had such very different life experiences from me.
I went to graduate school and wrote academic papers and a few published articles alongside some beautiful and wonderful graduate students who have completely changed me life and how I see the world.
And then I starting writing what I wanted to write the most – romance. I don’t know why this genre spoke to me. Maybe it’s because I love what love is and what it has brought to my own life. I love angst and perseverance in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. I love my husband and what our relationship is and want to infuse that type of joy and happiness into the characters I create.
That is where The Keeper stems from.
So I wanted to say thank you to all of the people along the way who helped me, and encouraged me, and challenged me, and critiqued me, and told me it could be better. Because without those people, I wouldn’t be able to say what I’ve always wanted to say:
I’m an author.
