My Story
It's never too late to dream a new dream! As a child, I loved reading and writing. I remember certain stories that were particularly fun to write, like a spooky story about killer cats. Writing brought me joy.
As I grew up, writing became solely academic. It was all papers, reports, APA, MLA, blah, blah, blah. Even though I did quite well, it doused the spark in me. There was no fun in writing anymore. By the time I graduated with my Bachelor's in Elementary Education in 2007, I had zero desire to write more than lesson plans ever again.
I spent a few years teaching. I worked as a therapeutic riding instructor for a year, and that was a blast! Life has a way of changing your path, however, and I ended up leaving my career path behind. I was divorced, pregnant, and alone with my two year old daughter. I made the decision to move across the country to be near my parents. I needed their support as a newly single mother.
I eventually found myself in an office job. At this point in my life, I needed stability. I needed a paycheck. I needed to be able to leave work at work and spend time with my children. There was no more passion or excitement as I headed to my cubicle every day, but I had something more important to bring me joy. I had my children.
My mind started to numb. I was good at my job and was extremely grateful for it, but a part of me was suffering. The part of me that wanted to create, to explore, to overcome challenges...it was trapped in a gray cube on the 9th floor of a gray building.
One evening, I was rocking my son and reading to my daughter. I've always read nightly to my children. It's a beautiful way to bond and the perfect ending to any day. This particular night, as my children resisted sleep, it struck me that I could write a story for them. I wrote "Wake Up!" that week.
It took me years to get the hang of self-publishing and to really ramp up the number of projects I wanted to take on. But now, I have the creative outlet I desperately needed and another meaningful way to connect with my kids.
My journey as an author has just begun.