You Wrote a Book?

After my friends get over the shock that I wrote a book, the question I get asked most often is, “What prompted that?”

Good Question

Like many people, I’d entertained the thought that it would be great to write and work from the comfort of home. But I dismissed the notion thinking I’d never have an idea big or captivating enough to fill a book.

Then I came across the story of Stephenie Meyer, who wrote the very successful Twilight books. Those books grew out of one scene that she wrote based on a dream. One scene! The thought stuck with me. Could it really be that uncomplicated?

I Gave it a Shot

Late in the fall of 2010 with a long, rainy, west coast winter set in for the duration, I pulled my computer into my lap and started playing. I wrote one scene; an uncomplicated one. It started life as a paragraph. I rewrote it a dozen times and with each rewrite, I added detail and nuance. That first paragraph quickly expanded into a page, and then two. The more I wrote, the more absorbed I became in the process. I learned about writing from different points of view, and the structure of past, present and future tenses. I learned the importance of using all the senses to paint a picture, and the super power of a good simile or metaphor.

Ideas Came Out of Nowhere

Ideas came at me out of nowhere and soon my one uncomplicated scene matured into the gangly first draft of Awakening. No one was more surprised than me that first time I typed “the end.” I lingered on Cloud Nine blissfully unaware of how much work was still to come.

I am so grateful I had the time that winter to explore that one uncomplicated scene. I’ve discovered a passion I didn’t know was in me and now my one scene has turned into a trilogy. Who knows where it might take me next?