I have been toiling for a long time about what my first post should be about. Should it be a review on a book I recently read? Or maybe something about my current work in progress (wip)? This is my debut. So it should be epic right?
After much thought, I wanted to talk about why I want to write and become a professional author. I feel it would give the most insight into who I am, and what the heck am I doing here.
I have been telling stories I think since I learned how to talk. I've been writing them since I learned how to write words with a pencil. I think the first stories I ever penned were fan fictions (before I even knew what fan-fics were) for Street Fighter 2 when I was six. I was OBSESSED with that game. Drawing the characters, and making my own stories, even if I didn't understand their "real" stories in the game.
My other obsession next to that was the Wizard of Oz. Sure I wanted to be Dorothy, but you know who I really liked and wanted redemption for? The Wicked Witch of the West. I had little figurines for the cast of the Wizard of Oz that I used to play with and make stories with. This led to what I like to call my first serial. It involved two kids finding a set of witches that lived in a tree. I can't remember all the fine details. I was seven. But I made a three part story of the kids first being enemies of the witches, then befriending them, and helping them to stop some nefarious being. I wish I still had it somewhere. I just remember I loved it.
What fueled my story telling was reading the stories of others. I still get inspired from reading the works of other authors. I grew up in Upstate New York. A trip to Walmart involved a forty-five minute drive from the small hamlet that I lived in. So I always had a book to read in the car with me.
I continued to write little fan fictions here and there, but I was too scared to publish them. A lot of them involved Sailor moon in my pre-teen and teen years. (I am a big advocate of Sailor Sun!)
I knew for a long time that telling stories was something that I wanted to do. I just didn't realize which medium was the one I truly wanted until recently. I studied art and thought I could express myself that way, but as much as I like to draw images, it wasn't it. Then I figured I should go for motion pictures. I originally wanted to go into directing, but while in school I rediscovered my passion for writing.
I started writing short stories again. People told me I had a voice, and that I had a very visual writing style. It fueled me. I took a screen writing course, and finally let free. I wrote a feature film, that my professor loved and wanted to include into her press packet for the following year of her production company.
I felt I finally found my dream. But of course, not everything can always go like you would like. There were things that came up in my life that forced me to make changes. I dropped out of finishing my second degree, and had to put writing aside. It took me nine years to get back, and now I'm ready to go all in.
I started with the feature film I wrote. I really loved the characters and the world I created. I wanted to expand it. So I began writing, and writing. Before I knew it, I wrote a full novel on it. I spent months combing through it, sharing it with others, and reworking it. This became Z.E.R.O: Zombie Elimination and Rescue Operatives.
My hope is to get this story out into the world, as I currently am working on pitching it to agents and publishers.
While waiting I have submitted short stories to anthologies, as well as started on a new WIP.
I'm very excited, and welcome everyone that would like to join me on this journey.
Thanks for stopping by, and let's continue this adventure.
(Cover photo by Kaboompics .com from Pexels)
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