Recently I took a road trip with my family to attend a wedding in North Carolina. My six-year old cousin Simone accompanied her mother, Michelle on the trip. I've always joked that Simone frightens me because she seems much older than her six years and she practically rules her mother's house.
As we traveled through Ohio toward West Virginia, Simone did the kid thing asking, "Are we out of Ohio yet? How much longer are we going to ride? I have to go to the bathroom and finally I want McDonald's." Hot air swirled around us and no one was able to figure out the van's heating system.
While on the road, the heating system fro the van became the center of Simone's world. Her demands punctuated the van. When no one listened, Simone furiously wrote out a message to her mother, passed it from the back seat to the front of the van and asked us to read it out loud. It stated, "I am suffocating. Please turn down the heat." Everyone laughed, surprised by the candid note. Later, I spoke with her mother and learned that not only had Simone written the note, but she'd spelled each word correctly. I was impressed. As we shared a meal, Michelle revealed that Simone wanted to be a writer and always loved to jot things down in her journal and had written all types of stories. Michelle told me that she loved to watch her daughter hunt for notebooks or journals whenever they visited a dollar store. Simone preferred a notebook over a doll or toy.
It made me reminisces about my love of books and the written word. How I enjoyed reading and couldn't wait for my favorite authors to release new titles. My love of books led me to a career as an adult reference librarian and a second career as a romance writer.
Like Simone I began making up stories as a child and it continued into my adult life. Here I am years later entertaining people with my novels and stories. It's a great feeling.
At events and presentation I'm constantly asked the same question, "Did you always want to be a writer?" My answer is always the same, "No. I wanted to rule the world. Be the president of a major company like General Motors." As you already learned, my life is nothing like the one I envisioned. I'm not the CEO of General Motors, but I write about companies similar to the auto industry and I run my companies efficiently with annual profits.
All of my rambling really did have a reason. I say to you, don't forget your love of writing. Simone made me realize how wonderful it is to write what makes you happy or what you believe is important and entertain others. Always enjoy what you do and don't let the negative energy that sometimes surrounds us interfere with your writing.
So now its my turn to ask questions. When did you start writing? What are your thoughts on the topic? Email me at karenwhiteowens@gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you.
Remember, don't be a stranger.
1 comment:
Your cousin reminds me a lot of my 6 year old daughter. While working on my first novel, she was writing (and illustrating) hers. It was a few simple sentences written in pencil illustrated with stick figures.
That also reminded me of myself. I've been writing since around 7 or so. I guess many writers have similar stories in that their love writing begins really early.
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