Welcome to the Writer’s Nook!

Welcome to the official Writer’s Nook page!

I have long debated how I actually want to start this journey with you, dear friend, and finally determined that an introduction to my own writing journey would serve best, if only for the reason that you might find yourself traveling the same path…or wanting to. Perhaps this entry will then encourage your heart, for in it I hope you will see that it is possible for you to achieve the same outcome, should you have the same determination of mind and desire of heart.

How did i start?

I was never one of those children who knew they would be a writer when they grew up. Nor did I ever dream of such an event ever coming to fruition. While I did enjoy writing immensely, and have a plethora of old diaries and journals with lengthy recordings of my childhood adventures to prove it, I never pursued the art of writing itself. Of course, like every child, I toyed with the idea of being a writer. There is an occasional storyline started here or there, but my childhood was, in effect, that of a reader. My mother recounts a tale about me reading a book to myself at two years of age. All gibberish, I imagine, but I was “reading” nonetheless, and even at the age of two, it was obvious to my mother that I loved books! Thus, I can, without doubt, say that my love for reading started there and has continued throughout my childhood into my adult years.

So when did I write my first story?

My fascination with books grew as I grew more and more attached them. So it happened around the age of 10 years that I put my hand to penning my very first short story, a tale about an Easter bunny who had trouble finding colorful eggs for the children’s baskets come Easter morning. He enlisted the help of a fluffy yellow chick to help him find all the eggs he needed to complete his mission. Then he returned home, happy and tired, and crept into bed and slept soundly, knowing that he was all prepared for Easter Sunday. Cute story, yet I’m not sure why I chose that topic, as we did not believe in the Easter bunny…though we did have Easter baskets and Easter egg hunts back then. So perhaps this was my inspiration. As an aside, I will share with you that the more I grow spiritually, the more things change in my heart and mind, and I would not support this kind of story topic today for various spiritual reasons. But I will save that discussion for another time and place…

Did I write other stories after?

Following this sweet, innocently-penned rabbit story, I wrote another-a collaborative one. My best friend had a passion for horses and wanted to write a story about them. We took turns writing chapters and often wrote them together. I wish you could see our child’s play, but I stored the manuscript away somewhere and can no longer locate it. It had a picture of a horse’s head on it. I do remember that, and our story started alongside the picture. If I ever find it, I’ll show you.

A few years later, I put my hand to writing yet another story-on my own again. This time about a young girl who had to face the wilderness with her young brothers and sisters in tow after an Indian raid on her wagon train left them all orphaned. It was a spin-off I believe of a story I’d read and enjoyed (see the photo below).

Then I started another story about a young orphan girl who wanted nothing more than freedom and independence, but her aunt and uncle with whom she was staying wanted nothing more than to unburden themselves by marrying her off to a most unpleasant-looking young man who she did not fancy at all. So, she ran away and was captured by Indians, released by a young squaw, and in wandering the woods, she ended up meeting the attractive, young cowboy she would eventually end up with.

Did I finish any of these stories?

Unfortunately, no. I never finished any of these tales of tragedy, woe, or adventure…not a single one…except for the little rabbit story I mentioned. And yes, I still have each unfinished, hand-written manuscript tucked away in a box somewhere in my closet. I kept them to remember my childhood and possibly to preserve the idea that maybe one day I’d return to them and actually finish what I started.

What happened next?

A writing hiatus ensued, until my years at university awoke me to a hidden version of myself I didn’t know I’d harbored deep within. Perhaps you may remember this portion of my writing journey from one of the first posts I ever made on my website. I’ll link it here. But the short of it is that my real love for writing emerged during the spring semester of my third year at university. I took a classics course that semester-one that will always stand out in my mind with the fondest of memories because it was here that my love for writing took solid root.

Which class was it?

The class was called Roman Cities and was one I had very much looked forward to. It was a lecture complete with photos of real Roman ruins from my professor’s personal trip to Italy-a tour so to speak of Rome itself and its neighboring cities: Pompeii and Herculaneum.

My grade depended on listening and taking notes during the lecture, researching the remainder of the Roman sites visited that day in class via resources at my university library, and then expressing everything I’d learned in journal format before the next class. I pondered how best to execute the assignment and determined that the most entertaining and interesting way to achieve this was by creating a bit of a story surrounding each week’s sites. For each journal entry, I completed an imaginative intro: an unfolding story involving several college students who had flown to Rome, Italy, for a study abroad program and discovered interesting artifacts at each site they visited while attending university there.

How did your professor take it?

Honestly, I wasn’t sure how my professor would receive this twist on his assignment, but to my surprise and relief, he loved it and wrote notes of encouragement in the margins sharing how much he enjoyed the story aspect of my journal. Thus, I continued my venture with storytelling, building upon what I had already written the previous weeks. I suppose you could say that this was also the first time I’d ever written anything and let someone else read it.

Here’s a couple of very old pictures of my Roman Cities journal down below (you can see the glue coming through now on my title page!). Please keep in mind, if you do end up reading any of my commentary in the second photo, that I literally never edited anything I wrote. I just wrote it, and…that was it! (I do edit it all my books though!).

At the end of that semester, I’d unveiled for myself a newfound love for writing and discovered a new sense of direction in the process. I treasured everything about those days I spent writing my Roman journal: the peaceful quality of the library while researching; the slow change in the season from frosty winter chill to the warming air of spring as I walked back to my dorm to record everything I’d just learned; the lengthening days of sunlight stretching over my dorm room wall, as I wrote and wrote and wrote, day after day, week after week. (I spent 3-4 hours a night typing away, taking all my notes and organizing them into a comprehensive, historical review of Rome and all the incredible sites it has to offer). For me, the assignment was a lot of hard work and effort, but I loved every minute of it.

How did my trilogy come about then?

Quite simply…a daydream. I had it that same spring semester I took the Roman Cities course. Often, I listened to music before going to sleep. My music of choice was, and always has been, soundtracks, and my preferred soundtrack was Braveheart. (To this day, it’s still my favorite, with Gladiator coming in as a close second).

So it was, I’d lie in bed and listen to the first few tracks, each of them moving and inspiring in their own right. I favored Gift of a Thistle in particular, although I also loved Wallace Courts Murron, and The Secret Wedding. For the Love of a Princess combined most of the beautiful parts of the first three songs, so I would frequently listen to this one as well.

Thus it happened one night, in the course of listening to the more intensive battle tracks (tracks 5 and 6), that a scene came to mind of a young girl being chased through a wood darkened by storm clouds. Each night the same daydream came to mind, while I listened to my music, and led me to ponder why this girl was being chased and by whom. What was she protecting that led her to become the target of an evil troop of men?

Now that I had an idea, what happened next?

From that day forward, I kept up the daydream until I’d fashioned quite a bit of a story from it. The item she protected was the cross necklace she wore. The troop of men were soldiers serving an evil lord who wanted both the cross and another man’s throne.

But who was the young girl? Where did she come from, and why did she or the cross matter?

I confess, I didn’t know at the time. I had to fashion this portion of the story, too. It took a bit of thought before the ideas started pouring in. Then I sat myself down in front of the computer one day after classes and began to write.

The rest is history as they say.

was it that “easy?”

No, my writing journey didn’t stop there. It was, in fact, only the beginning. The beginning of a winding, uphill and downhill road that eventually led me to where I am today.

I’ll weave some of these details in as I share my own personal tips on writing and my love for writing as well. At least, I’ll share what writing advice I’ve learned and taught myself along the way. Please bear in mind, I’m still learning, but it’s my hope that my journey will somehow inspire your own, as others’ journeys did for me.

What’s the rest of the story?

Come back and find out! My tips on writing will start soon. I hope to share them bi-monthly. I can’t promise I can adhere to this strict of a posting schedule, but I’ll definitely try! My life is a little hectic right now, so bear with me!

And please know, I am very eager to help in any way I can and encourage you to jumpstart your love for writing and discover the hidden version of yourself you didn’t know you harbored either. : )

So, what about you? are you a Storyteller?

Then Welcome to the Writer’s Nook! Your future is waiting…

Until next time…may God bless your writing journey as He has so faithfully blessed mine. xoxo