That is a certificate I was awarded in the second grade. I'm still waiting on the "famous" part!
"A writer is someone who can't not write." -Sol Stein
Occasionally someone will ask me why I write so much. The answer is I can't not write. It is a bit like a having a disorder. The difference is that I am not seeking a cure. Writing has carried me through a lot of hard times, from the angsty drama of my teenage years, the confusion of becoming an adult and even now, confronting the many difficult decisions of adulthood. Writing imagined stories helps me make sense of the real story of my life.
I can remember being young enough to barely hold the pencil and already I was making up stories. I know that I was writing stories by the time I was seven, at least. I believe I was thinking of them even before I could write them. For whatever reason, God saw fit to fill me with stories. Here I am, trying desperately to get them all on paper before I die! It is a joy and a privilege.
When I was in high school, instead of asking for a car (though I'm sure I asked for that too at some point...) I asked my parents for a filing cabinet. It still sits at my parent's house, still half full of notebooks. Growing up, most of my friends and family knew that if in doubt, paper was always a good present for me. Still, I prefer the old- fashioned writing method of pencil (not mechanical!) and paper. I'm trying to embrace technology. We live in a world where there is computer software for practically everything, and probably a phone app too! I'm writing on Scrivener now. I'm publishing ebooks, which still seems a little like black magic to me. I spend more time on social media talking to people across the world than I could have ever imagined all those years ago.
But in my mind, there is still the filing cabinet. Inside are the stories filed away, waiting for their turn. "Rabbit-Trapped" was just the first of many. God willing, the rest will make their way to paper (or screen) in the days and years to come.
"There is no greater agony that bearing untold stories inside you." -Maya Angelou
If you have read my book, thank you. You are keeping my dreams alive. You are helping me make room for more stories. You are the cure to my peculiar disorder and you alleviate this strange agony of having an untold story inside.