Stirring Passions

Fun Fact:  I was the number one reader in Tacoma the summer after 5th grade.  This feat is even more impressive because I did it while still watching at least 6 hours of television a day.

I loved reading as a child. It was my dream to become an author.  My grandmother was a constant source of encouragement, gifting me with notepads and pens, books for budding young authors.  She would regularly ask me how my writing was going. Then I got to high school and a few honors English classes later any joy I ever derived from reading and writing was destroyed.  I found reading painful and boring.  I came to believe that I was borderline stupid and void of any writing talent.

Luckily, during my junior year of college my major required me to take a class called The Literature of Nature and Place.  I had never read nature writing before. The class was a far cry from a critical analysis of A Tale of Two Cities.  Suddenly, I wanted to read again.  I read nature writers, books recommended by Oprah, Harry Potter, anything I could get my hands on.  It felt so good to enjoy books again.  These days I get to share a love of reading with the lovely ladies of my book club.  It's hard to find time to read sometimes but I love my Nook and its ability to let me read late into the night without bothering Dave.

Now to the point of this post.  At the same time that I rediscovered reading, my desire to write came back, but I never had an idea that I felt I could write about.  I thought about writing my memoirs, but then worried about some ex-boyfriend coming out of the woodwork to air dirty laundry.  Keeping a blog has been very therapeutic, but it's also made me want more.

When I decided to quit my job, I knew I would still need to get clock hours in order to keep my certification current.  I decided to make some headway on them and take a class at the community college.  It gave me an excuse to take a writing class.  For the past month I have been taking a class on writing books for children and young adults.  I was nervous about what kind of writing I would be subjected to by others, but have been pleasantly surprised.  I've learned a lot about the process.

On my way to my first class I finally got an idea for a book.  I couldn't wait to put pen to paper.  It practically wrote itself.  I was nervous to share it with the class, but got really great feedback.  I strongly disagreed with a few suggestions, but others really did improve it.  Since then I have managed to do a little more writing and it's getting easier.  During the last class, several different  people told me they thought I had real talent.  I'm not saying this to blow my own horn, but rather because of how much it meant to me.  I have a hard time accepting compliments and I really have always felt like my writing was just not good enough.  This class is really helping heal some old wounds.

I'm not sure what happens next.  In the next few weeks, we'll learn how to try to get a book published.  I like my book.  I wrote it for Linus.  I am under no illusion that it would ever get published, but I'd like to give it a shot.  Otherwise, I will just have to do my own illustrations and make a special copy just for Linus.  I know he'll love it.  In case you're wondering, the book is about a little boy who wants a python for a pet.  In the meantime, I am really excited to rekindle a passion I thought was gone.