How I Became an Author

I was 11 when I decided I wanted to become an author. I’m now a self-published author with 3 novels published under my name. My novels, The Holiday Spirit, Convicted: 25 to Life, and Beyond My Words, were published at the same time in 2020.

I had a friend named Kendra who I’d been friends with since I was really little. We were literally born a week apart from each other. During church every Sunday, we drew these little comics, if you will, of random stuff and exchange them after the meeting was over. Eventually, as we got older, the comics became less about drawing fun pictures for each other and more about stories. It really started to become more elaborate with legitimate story lines until it turned into a full-blown story.

The first story I ever wrote was called The Island Stowaways. I’m planning on actually revisiting that story at a later date, but for now, it’s still in the infant stages of production as a novel.

Kendra and I would spend time every day after school reading stories we’d written to each other over the phone. She was the first person who heard the story of my series, Beyond My Words, which I started writing when I was thirteen-years-old in 2008. I’m still writing that story after all this time.

I wrote almost constantly as a teenager. I wanted to be a writer more than anything in the world. It was definitely my dream job and I’m aware of how unbelievably blessed I am to call myself an author now.

Since I was 4, I’d taken ballet lessons only to find out that I’m not very graceful. At 16, I was held back a year for the second time after a very unfortunate year with a . . . eccentric teacher. My mom gave me the option to quit ballet and do my writing critique group full-time or continue with ballet and quit my critique group. Ultimately, I chose writing, but it was actually a really tough decision that took some serious prayer and consideration.

I get asked a lot what my biggest piece of advice is when it comes to teenagers wanting to become authors. Here’s what I tell them.

Advice for Teen Writers

• Join a writing/critique group! They can help you become the best author you cane be.
• Go to teen writing conferences! This will help you learn about the writing world and get acquainted with different styles and methods of writing.
• Never stop writing and working toward your dream! It’s really easy to stop writing. But the more you write, the better you get. Practice makes perfect!
• Believe in yourself! Anything that is worthwhile is going to take work. And A LOT of it! Writing a novel isn’t easy, but it’s extremely doable if you believe in yourself and get to work! Even if others discourage you or try to tell you it’s too hard. If it brings you joy to create stories and characters, do it in spite of those who might doubt you!
• Don’t compare yourself to other writers! You are you. I’ve never liked when people say I’ll be “the next J.K. Rowling!” For the simple reason of, I’m not her and I love and respect other authors like her, I’m not her. No one else can write your story. It’s yours.

The best thing you can do for yourself as a writer is believing that you can do it and that you’re capable of great things!

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Anyway.

Dropping ballet for that critique group was the best thing I could’ve done. It helped me embrace my creativity in a way that suited me. Ballet was fun and I made a lot of really awesome friends there, but I grew way more through being a writer than I ever would’ve as a ballerina.

So, thanks, Mom!

Fast-forwarding several years, I published my first novels, like I said, at the same time in 2020, the year we all try to forget happened. I have been spending my summers every since then at art fairs selling my books. My main genre is romance, though I refer to them as love stories because there’s a stigma with the title of being a romance novelist. People tend to assume I write filth like Fifty Shades of Grey if I write romance. I write clean romance. Not only for myself, but also because I want my readers to trust me and know that they don’t have to be embarrassed reading my books while on a bus.

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Now, I’m working on the second book of the Beyond My Words Saga. I’m an author, a wife, and a mommy! I love it so much and the life I always dreamed for myself.