International Women’s Day

Happy International Women’s Day! 

I wanted to take today to talk about a woman who changed my life so many years ago. She was an inspiration to me back then, and she still is to this day.

Back when I was still in middle school, I never liked reading or writing. There were times I would try to get away with writing book reports on Dr. Seuss books because I couldn’t get into reading. It was that bad.

My mom was so tired of me trying to get away with that kind of crap, so she took me to Waldenbooks and told me to pick a book. I was to pick a book and read it the whole way through and tell her about it later. She was getting desperate. So I walked over to the young adult section and cover surfed. Although I knew the phrase “Never pick a book by it’s cover,” I couldn’t help it. I was a visual kind of person.

After about twenty minutes of browsing, I found something that would change my entire life. I picked up Goddess of the Night by Lynne Ewing. The cover had caught my eye and so did the title. The size of the book wasn’t too bad either. I figured it wouldn’t take me too long to finish and get my mom off of my back.

As much as I didn’t want to admit it, my mom’s plan worked. As soon as we got into the car, I opened the book to see what it was all about. To my surprise, I finished the book that night. I couldn’t put it down and that shocked me. When I had finished reading it around 2 am, I ran into my sister’s room to tell her everything about the book. The way it had kept my attention was amazing to me. I was completely engrossed. Considering my sister was a heavy reader, she found my reaction hilarious.

The next day, I was practically begging my mom to take me back to the store to pick up

the next book. I finished majority of Daughters of the Moon within two weeks. And I craved more. So much more. Lynne Ewing had introduced me to a different way to express my imagination. Before this, I had only been sketching the ideas that had come to me. But after reading, I wanted to write them out. I needed to.

 

A couple years later, I felt brave enough to write her a fan letter. This was after I had finished writing my short novella Angels: Moon and Sun. And God bless this woman, she responded to my letter. She encouraged me to continue writing and thanked me for my letter.

This one moment led to over a decade of letters between the two of us. She even critiqued the first chapter of Angels and sent it back to me. God bless that woman because I recently went back to read it and it was awful [Currently, I’m reworking it].

Lynne was always sweet to me in her letters and always encouraged me to improve my writing every day. Although I have gotten behind in writing to her [Moving and work really distracted me. I am shamed], I’m hoping to continue our friendship to this day. 🙂

If it wasn’t for her, I’m not sure where my life would be [and shout out to my mom for her idea]. This one moment led to my grades improving in school, to earning a graduate degree in learning, and the creation of the Dead Dreamer series. Her letters led me down a path for the better. Wanting to commemorate this change in my life, I went to a tattoo parlor and got a crescent moon tattoo when I turned twenty. Because of her, my life changed. And I will forever be grateful to her.

Thank you Lynne. For everything.