That Byline Moment

The first time I was ever published I was ten and I never saw the final copy. Not sure what happened but somewhere along the line I went under the radar and submitted a poem to the National Poetry contest for children and was selected to be published. As often happens when you are ten, you forget to communicate and so no one ever saw 'The Autumn Breeze' in print. At least no one who I knew.

The second time I was published was more than a decade later while in my first year of journalism. It was the moment I had been waiting for all my life and with the perfect article in mind I submitted to the local newspaper. Two days later I saw my name in print for the first time. I will never forget that feeling. It was the first time I received the validation I needed to be a writer. The first night I danced around my apartment, waving about the poor newspaper that ended up ripped and crumpled. The second day I tried to act all cool about it: "Yeah, that was my name you saw in the newspaper, no biggie." Until my mother (possibly one of the greatest on earth) fished out yesterday's paper from the news bin as Starbucks and announced to the whole cafe that her daughter was a published writer. I was mortified... ... ...and also kinda tearing up for it was true. I just remembered all this as I came across the article (which said best mother ever frame for me for Christmas) and hung it on the wall.

May I never forget that moment my heart leaped into my throat and happy tears streamed down my cheeks, the first moment I saw my byline. May I have many more bylines and never take that moment for granted.

All About Mapping

I have always envied the mind maps of some of the greats. Some wrote on walls, other kept thoughts pinned up with thumbtacks and string that end up representing a work of art more than a plan and most recently one of my favourite writers, Kristin Cashore, wrote about her handmade cloth bulletin board she uses to keep track of her ideas. I wish I was more like them. But every time I try to keep a bulletin board or a scrapbook of inspiration like this it always ends up looking so contrived, like I spend more time thinking of how to organize my ideas than writing them down. I often vow to have better writing habits and often fail.

Instead I keep all my ideas in a notebook. After years of trying to be good about keeping a journal I finally found what was holding me back and it was such a simple fix! Lines! I absolutely hate lines on my pages! By accident I one day purchase a sketchbook instead of a notebook. I was already off at my favortie coffee shop with a latte in hand and didn't want to run back to purchase a lined one so I put pen to paper and just started to write. I was amazed by the fact that there were no boundaries. I could write as big or small as I wanted with the added bonus of there being no lines running through the middle of my pictures and that is how the following came about.

A general map outlining Luxumbra

A more detailed map of just Amekuni and Momoka's journey.

An even more detailed map of the Merporte capital.

Turns out I hate lines but love maps! Along with my wild notes, that run about the page wherever they please, I keep maps of the stories I'm writing. Not mind maps but actual maps and since I started drawing them my plots have started making more sense. So there I have it. I still have terrible writing habits but at least I have my maps.

How do you map your story?

My Top Ten

In no particular order here are my top ten favourite books (or series) that have inspired or shaped me as a writer in some way. Some such as Cashore, Pierce and Velde instigated by love for YA fantasy. While others, Dubus, Gaiman and Benioff, inspire me to be the best writer I can be. All sit on my 'favourites bookshelf' which I go to frequently if I need a reminder for why I love reading and writing so much. So thank you to the authors on this list for being so amazing! And a special thanks to Andre Dubus III for being such an inspiration to me at the PNWA conference back in 2010. I frequently replay our conversation in my mind and flip to the front page where he inscribed "Dream on" in House of Sand and Fog.

Tales of Otori - Lian Hearn
His Dark Materials - Phillip Pullman
City of Thieves - David Benioff
Graceling Realm - Kristin Cashore
The Scorpio Races - Maggie Stievater
Dragon's Bait - Vivian Vande Velde
The Graveyard Book - Niel Gaiman
House of Sand and Fog - Andre Dubus III
This Dark Endeavor - Kenneth Oppel
Circle of Magic -Tamora Pierce

Current Projects

A MILLION STONES is a story about a farmer's daughter who must protect her family from slavery, even if it means lying to the prince she loves, stealing from the king and defying a god.

THE SKY EMPRESS is the tale of a princess that must prove herself to the gods and the demon that must prove himself to her.

PORT OF STORM is the adventures of a young king who must find the true heir to the throne so he can stop a war and the knight who never realize the exiled king was always at her side.

Today I am a Writer

For many years I have written. I remember the first story I had to write was in grade four. We were given a pre-made booklet to fill out with whatever our imaginations could conjure. Something happened to me that day. It was like I had unlocked this superpower I knew I had but could never define. It was that exact moment when I put pencil to that paper that I knew I was writer. By the end of the project I had filled out four more of those little booklets. From then on stories always flowed out of me. I wrote about horses, adventurers, owning my own dragon, the weather, the first car I drove, about bullying, being bullied, about tigers in the jungle and a kid who wanted to grow up and be just like his adventurous father only to discover his father was not an adventurer but in jail. I wrote about a boy who had to convince heaven he wasn't truly dead and a girl who lost a revolution. I traveled to Japan and from there I collected legends and folklore weaving them with my own ideas to form new stories. I never stopped writing.

I love to write and find if too many days go without it, I grow moody and irritable until friends and family ask "Have you written lately?" The answer is usually "No." Unless I've just finished reading a book that ended tragically. (I'm looking at you Lian Hearn. I cried for days after finishing The Harsh Cry of the Heron.) It was this that made me realize I not only loved writing but was a writer. It is more than just a hobby. It is the definition of me.

So today I take my first real step into believing that. I keep waiting for validation that it's okay to call myself a writer but I will no longer. Today I am a writer and from this day on I will always be.