I think at some point in our youth, all of us desire to be famous. Whether it be an actor, athlete, musician, or writer; we want to be known for our talents. When I was a child, I wanted to be an author, with JK Rowling as my inspiration. When I was a teenager, I wanted to be a professional ballroom dancer, with the cast of Dancing with the Stars as my models. The funny – or sad – thing about dreams is at some point they change to be more “practical.” My practical dream was to be a teacher. I specifically wanted to teach History and ESL, and I reached that point in my career only 2 years in! But as I went through college, became a wife and mother, and started my teaching career, I still had a desire to write. 

It always goes back to that teacher who believed in you.

My 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Hansen, embedded a love of writing into my nine-year-old heart during her fractured fairy tale unit. We read Dinorella, Prince Cinders, The Three Javelinas, and many others. Then, it was our turn. I wrote a Sleeping Beauty story using Star Wars characters. Darth Vader was Maleficent, Luke was Prince Philip, and Leah was Aurora. I was so proud of my story, and from then on, I wanted to be an author.

Three years later, in sixth grade, my teacher Mrs. Bunce had a unit where we got to actually “publish” a book. She connected this project with our world history unit on Ancient Egypt. We each wrote our own story based in Ancient Egypt, split up the parts of our stories into pages, and typed each page up. After printing out the pages, we drew the illustrations. Then Mrs. Bunce helped us copy our pages onto larger papers front and back so when we folded the pages, it made a book. We sewed the pages down the middle. We then hot glued fabric onto cardboard to make our book cover, and hot glued the first and final pages to the cardboard covers. If we wanted to leave one with Mrs. Bunce, we made two; which I did.

I kept in touch with Mrs. Bunce, and every once in a while she would say, “I still have my copy of your book! I use it as one example when I’m introducing the project to my current students.” Her support really lit a fire in me that maybe I could really publish one day.

Teenage Angst Poetry

During the difficult teen years, I had a notebook for poetry. Everything that upset me, I wrote a dramatic poem about. I still have my notebook. Most of the poems make me cringe, but there are a few that still tug at my heart. 

My attempt at mommy blogging

I was a new mom in 2013 when mommy blogging exploded onto the social media scene. And I thought, “I’d like to do that.” So I started my own blog: Milk Chocolate. I published between every other month to once a month for nine years. I wrote about motherhood, pregnancy, myself, my religion, and how my family celebrated each holiday and birthday. My ability to publish frequently decreased when I started my teaching career. I also started writing fiction at the same time, and have focused on that since 2020.

Guest Contributor

In 2016, I submitted a guest article to (what was at the time) Mormon Women Stand (now called Latter-Day Saint Women Stand). They accepted my guest article, and a month later invited me to join the website as a monthly contributor. I wrote religious articles for Latter-Day Saint Women Stand for three years. This experience helped me improve my writing skills significantly because there were designated editors every article had to go through before it could be published. With my personal blog, I was in complete control; with LDSWS, I had to work with others. 

COVID – the killer or creator of dreams?

Throughout my early years of motherhood and blogging, I still had a head full of ideas for fiction. I started two separate novels I never finished. In May 2020, my husband lost his job, which became a huge motivator for me to make something of myself. I had been a stay at home mom for five years, and I was ready to expand my horizons. Because of my husband’s unemployment, we needed a consistent income right away. So I simultaneously applied for teaching jobs and began writing another book. Well, third time’s the charm. That was the book I finished and will be published soon. (My journey to finding a publisher will be a separate post.) 

Writing has always been a part of my life. From short stories, to poetry, to blogging, to my big dream of full length fiction. I’m so excited and grateful to be here, at the cusp of my dream. And I’m grateful that you are here on this journey with me.