It all begins with an idea.

My track and field coach Mr. Williams once said to me “Finish What You Start.” In my junior year of high school, I joined the track and field team. I was more of a bookworm, not an athlete. But a friend encouraged me to join. My enthusiasm for the sport dwindled rapidly after my last place finishes at the track meets. Out of frustration, I told Mr. Williams I wanted to quit. Mr. Williams told me that I shouldn’t quit. That I should finish what I started. Mr. Williams could see in me that I tended to play it safe. I did not like to do anything which did not come naturally to me. Anything which required me to go outside of my comfort zone. I listened to Mr. Williams and stayed on the track and field team. I still came in last place on all meets. But my greatest accomplishment while on the team was simply to stay on it.

Fast forward thirty years and I still apply Mr. William’s life lessons even to this day. I have been thinking about writing my book for over twenty years. Thinking. Not doing. Writing does not come naturally to me. As a result, for a long time I did not actually write it. I stayed in my comfort zone. I conducted a lot of research. Bought books and attended classes on learning how to write fiction. But actually never wrote the book. I entered a program called Paper to Polished which required a finished manuscript. It was the first step for finishing my goal to Every day Mr. William’s mantra to finish what I start drives me further to my goal to have my book finally published.

Little House on the Prairie started it all. When I was five, I was enthralled with the tv show. I still remembering crying after seeing the Bunny episode. Perhaps I identified with Laura so much because we both shared pigtails. Little did I know that the tv show was adapted from books written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I was shocked when I saw the Little House books on my cousin Michele’s bookshelves. Immediately, I asked my mother to read the books to me. I had difficulty keeping up in Kindergarten and wasn’t a good reader. My mother told me no. I had to read the books by myself. If I didn’t understand a word, then she would help me understand the word. That was the best thing for me. Because I wanted to read the Little House books so badly, I learned how to love reading. My head was constantly buried in books as anyone who knew while I was growing up can attest. I was constantly reading historical romances such as the Love Comes Softly series, even when I was just six years old. But for the Little House series creating a spark in my imagination, I would probably never have become an avid reader - let alone a writer.

To learn to read is like a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.

Les Miserables

It all begins with an idea.