Chase and Charlie Publication Day (and my author origin story)
One of my actual Young Authors Medals
When I was in the first grade, I entered a city-wide writing contest, The Young Authors Competition. I wrote a story about a talking dog named Toby (named after my real dog, who, unfortunately, did not talk), and Tiger Lilly (named after a stuffed white tiger I’d had since I was a baby). Being a first grader, I didn’t stand much chance of winning the whole shebang, but I was the winner in my class. It was the first time I’d ever really won anything besides a spelling bee, and I was ecstatic—especially after I got a big medal for it that made it look like I’d won the Olympics.
But the actual winning wasn’t really what stuck out to me. What stuck out for me—what put me on the path that I’m still following almost twenty years later–was that my teacher, Ms. Kamber, told me that I was really good at writing stories.
I had always known that I liked reading and writing and making up stories, but it had never really occurred to me before that moment that I could combine all of those things into something so fun and fulfilling. And she said I was good at it!
So, from then on, I spent more and more time writing, getting better and better at it as I got older. I won several more Young Authors medals (some for sequels to “Toby and Tiger Lilly”) and some other bigger contests too. By the eighth grade, I KNEW—knew deep down in my gut—that I wanted to be a novelist. My teacher then, Sister Maureen, was a tough woman to please, but she said that I had a real talent too (even if my submission for Young Authors that year was at least fifteen pages too long to be considered…). Her approval and encouragement felt more “official” than any I had gotten before. I was 13 now, for heaven’s sake! I was an adult! And I was being taken seriously by someone who really seemed to know good writing from bad. That is when I realized that maybe I didn’t just WANT to be a novelist. Maybe I already was one.
In first grade I was given a purpose, and in eighth I was given the confidence to pursue it. A lot of things have happened since then; a lot more people have come in and out of my life, encouraging me or steering me in better directions, and there have been plenty of ups and down and doubts and opportunities, but I will never forget those two incidents. Writing is hard and publishing is a hundred times harder, but since the eighth grade, I have never once doubted that I would eventually succeed as a writer. It’s not because I think I’m the best, or that I have something that other people don’t have (in fact, I’m more convinced now than ever that everyone has the potential to make their own dream a reality, as long as they try hard enough). It is simply because writing is what I am meant to do, it is who I am. And I am never going to give up on it.
Today, after a lot of setbacks and disappointments and hope and hard work, my determination has finally paid off. My first published novel, Chase and Charlie, is now officially on sale from Black Rose Writing. It took a lot of time and effort to get here, and I still have a long way to go, but today, I can consider myself a full-fledged, published author.
My six-year-old self would be proud. : )
Chase and Charlie is available now from Black Rose Writing.
http://www.blackrosewriting.com/suspensethriller/chase-and-charlie
It will also be available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble’s sites in 5-10 days.
