Finishing First Draft

I'd like you to join me on a journey to becoming a published Young Adult fiction author. Mostly because I don't do anything by myself. I have a huge family with whom I do ministry. I have lots of kids who hover over me while I'm writing. And an ever-present Love who guides my way. I'm not sure what lies ahead but I think the end result will be amazing. I'm warned that there will be rejection and disappointment, but I'm up for the challenge. Let's blow this popsicle stand and get published!

2013: The Beginning

One cloudy afternoon in November 2013, I sat and wrote a strange scene where a village boy meets a girl with wings. I didn't know who they were or what was going to happen but it was a sweet introduction to their friendship.

As you may (or may not) know, I am a mother of five awesome and loud kids. I have been homeschooling all of them since 2011. So needless to say, my time is consumed with math, language arts, science, bible and more. I don't have much time for my passion: writing and reading young adult fiction. So these adorable characters sat on a shelf until I was ready to discover more.

2015: The Middle

Two years after writing that first endearing scene I looked to the puffy clouds in the sky and thought, "She lives on an island with other winged people and they are at war with the villagers." The story started to take shape in my mind and I couldn't keep myself from writing it.

Ernest Hemingway was right when he said that you bleed the story out. If he were a woman he'd say it was like birthing a baby.

2016: The End

At the end of April 2016 I wrote the last chapter while sitting in a coffee shop on the opposite coast from where I live. I had been writing everyday, eight hours a day, for nearly five days pumping the story onto the page. It was such a triumph to write the last words, sit back and say, "I'm done!" (It was more like, "Holy crap, I'm done?") I may have teared up a little, surrounded by strangers and the smell of coffee beans. But who cares, I did it! I birthed that book!

Then I went to a writer's conference where my first draft manuscript won FIRST PLACE in a contest, but that's another story...



Title: Child of the Sky
Story: A village boy befriends the winged daughter of his enemy who lives on a floating island in the sky that circles the world every harvest. When the island returns empty, he boards it, against his village’s wishes, in search of her.