Spellbound released TOMORROW!

With "Spellbound by Fire" at the formatter until tomorrow, I find myself sitting here on my bed in nostalgia and excitement asking myself "What do I do now?"

"Spellbound by Fire" is to be released tomorrow. Earlier tonight, I watched Lady Gaga's new video "Marry the Night," a 13-minute music video that is somewhat autobiographical and depicts struggle and hardship while trying to find success. Two quotes stood out from that video.

"I'm going to be a star. You know why? Because I have nothing left to lose."

"You can say I lost everything. But I still had my bedazzler."

It made me think back on what brought "Spellbound by Fire" to the stage it's at tonight. I started writing it in Grade 6 with no real direction to it. Back then, when domestic violence ruled my life, writing was my escape. When the house was ruled by a monster my only voice was my stories. Then, in 2004, the dream seemed to be destroyed when Mom's ex burned the house down. I stopped writing for a while. It was the hardest year of my life. Yet looking back now, it becomes a story of perseverance and chasing your dreams much like a gypsy chases the wind and the horizon. Somehow, you just get to where you're going and you some day find what you're looking for.

Completed stories and books are to writers what that bedazzler was to Lady Gaga: a symbol of the creativity that runs in the blood of an artist, a physical memorabilia that serves as a reminder of where we came from and how far we have come. "Spellbound by Fire" is my bedazzler, my perseverance story. And tomorrow it finally gets to see the light of day. It makes me believe that things will only get better from here.

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