It feels like another lifetime ago, when I found a private spot, picked up a pen and paper, spilling my emotions inside of that spiral notebook. The pain of being a fourteen-year-old girl in a secret dysfunctional relationship with a disturbed boy, and moving in a with my mothers new spouse and his dysfunctional family, needed an outlet. My magical childhood, full of imaginary characters, barbies and happiness, suddenly turned into a place that I had to learn to survive in. The situation was a wild ride that I kept from the outside world. You see, learning to keep secrets at a young age, my writing became a secret too. Not only that, but it became my constant companion too.
Poetry also became another release valve. So, for most of my teen and young adult years, both forms of expression was part of what shaped me into a story teller. A common question asked of writers on social media: why do you write? For me, and I suspect for others too, it is a form of expression that can only be shared with the page.
Once I was old enough to leave home, and experience life, I started writing short stories. As a young artist I was never far from drama and excitement. I enjoyed acting, and despite the turbulence of my teenage years, I was a thespian in both my adolescence and beyond. I viewed the world as if it were a movie, and the more adventures I collected, the more short stories I began to write. Some of the stories were left unfinished because something new would come along and capture my attention which I wanted to write about, so I wasn’t able to finish the other story I started. I’ve read this can happen among writers. After I moved to Southern CA, and starting an exciting new life there, I started writing a new book that I never finished. I attempted finishing it a few times, but it was not to be. I realized then that I had a lot more living to do, and one day, when I was ready, I’d write that novel.
One day has come, and I am writing that novel. About half way through the book at this point, I feel like I’ve developed the discipline to stick with it and see it to its end. Throughout my life I’ve researched many topics about writing, writers, I’ve read articles & books, listened to podcasts, and anything else that I could get my hands on. Along with life lessons, self discovery, and discipline, I realize that I’m a writer who is ready to share some of her writings with the world.
