Did I always want to be an author?

The short answer? Yes!

Now for the long answer...

As a kid, I would constantly be writing stories. My "first" book was created in elementary school about a monarch butterfly, based on a true story! (Either scroll to the bottom or click me to go straight to my first book; yes, I still have it over 20 years later!) I also have published poetry floating around as well! Throughout my years in school, I especially focused on Pokemon fanfic comics or creating graphic novels. I have so many unfinished WIPs lying around that will never see the light of day again. They're collecting layers upon layers of imaginary dust in the world of forgetfulness... okay, that's a lie. They're all in a cabinet in my personal library. They live on the hope of revival in some form or another...

Through the years of writing, I never was able to get my stories to the climax. I would have this amazing beginning idea and write at least 1/4-1/2 of the story idea, become stuck, and then abandon the story altogether... hence my layers upon layers of imaginary dust on those ideas.

It wasn't until Mina's (nickname of Princess Persamina Rowena of Kingdom Theorines, from

A Kingdom of Promises and Lies) story

came rattling in my head mid-February 2023 that I knew I had to write the story. So, on March 5, 2023, I put pen to paper and wrote chapter 4 of the first book for The Courting Season Series.

Why did I start at chapter 4? Well, I remember reading somewhere to write the scene you needed to get out the most. It didn't matter if it was at the end of the book, middle, or wherever; write what you needed to get out now. Granted, I'm paraphrasing what I had read, but I did follow that advice when I started writing the first book I published in this author career. Is chapter 4 a significant scene in the book? Not necessarily; however, I enjoy it reflecting the witty banter & relationship between Mina and her handmaid, Eloise.

My scene-hopping writing continued with the next book I wrote, "Kierian" and how my upcoming book, A Queendom of Heartbreak and Deceit, has been pieced together by writing the scenes I want to get out and then tie them all together. Will I continue this way as an author? I'm not certain; I plan to attempt another planning/writing method to see how it jives with me. If it doesn't, then I'll go back to scene hopping. I can confidently say, with entering my second year as an author, that I am still figuring out my flow, and I am okay with that.

Let me just jump back to something I mentioned in the beginning of this post for a moment... After hitting published of my first book, I realized what all my previous WIPs had been lacking... A Why. As in, why was I writing this story? Now, don't assume this has to be very deep at all; it doesn't.

Reading the synopsis of AKOPAL, you know a couple of things:

1. It's a Regency story that occurs during a special event

2. The FMC needs to save her kingdom by marrying rich

3. The most eligible bachelor has his sights set on the FMC, but so does his brother

This here has a why. The why being, who does she end up with, and does she save her kingdom? Previous WIPs would only have the 2nd bullet point, with the hazy idea of bullet points 1 & 3, but zero idea of how to execute it. I would begin writing and a 1/4 way through, become lost, overwhelmed, and abandoned the project. As I mentioned above, Mina's story rattled in my head, and it rattled hard. There was just something in my heart and soul that screamed to write and publish it. A feeling I had never felt in any of my previous WIPs.

Initially, Mina's story was supposed to be a complete standalone, but then, as I wrote and explored the characters/setting, I realized I wanted to write their stories as well (-cough, cough- you can all blame the character, Montgomery, for this). Now, I am preplanning books for those characters. My plan is for each book to be a standalone that will be a part of an interconnect series. Some loose strands will be tied up in other books, and as the books come out, I will be providing a reading order recommendation.

I am very curious and intrigued what my author career will look like in 5, 10, 20, 30+ years? How many stories have I written? How many became published? How many readers have I met along the way.

And without further ado... the first book I ever wrote and illustrated at the age of 7...

The Butterfly Who Couldn't Fly (with commentary)

Ahhh, look at that floral cover with puffy paint... Such a work of art

OG Microsoft Paint anyone? lol, I definitely enjoyed the spray can feature...

If you squint and turn your head to the side, you will notice a monarch butterfly in the right corner.. apparently my detail to the face also became spray can art...

I feel as each page occurs the level of detail becomes more abstract... i guess the monarch no longer has orange as it sits on my hand... my feet became bigger too and now I appear to be having a bad hair day...

Look at me cute at age 7! I find it interesting that I mention Volleyball here, when I had also mentioned joining a sand volleyball team in my previous blog post, "Reflection of 2024." Ps. My hair was long enough to sit on as a kid.

I hope you enjoyed my "first" story with my own additional little commentary included. Maybe I will continue to dig through my things, I can post additional WIPs from childhood (most of them are definitely graphic design or pokemon fanfics lolol).