I walked into class at my new school on a Tuesday morning. I didn’t know anybody and this new college was a lot smaller than my old school. Transferring was a lot harder than I thought – as if anyone wants a repeat of their freshman year. As with most “first days”, we played icebreakers during all of my classes. During all of mine I mentioned that I was a writer. When you mention that you are a writer people kind of just nod their head and move on, but one year later, during my next set of icebreakers, I was able to say that I was a published author.
“A published author?! That’s so cool!” one said. “I have always wanted to write a book but I could never sit down and actually do it,” another replied. And that is what I have been hearing for a year now. It will be one year June 1 that my book has been published, and by the time that one-year anniversary rolls around, my second book will have been released.
As an author, blogger, and writer, I have full responsibility for my own efforts. Thus meaning, nobody has told me when a post needs to be up or how many words to write, and nobody has ever demanded certain content from me. I don’t have to go into an office and report in. Writing is kind of strange, especially writing for an audience. For some strange reason people actually care what I have to say about a variety of different subjects. Whether I post words of good or evil, fact or fiction, my different readers and audience members portray them all differently. My words have the power to change the minds of other people. Words have meaning. Words have power and I have the power as a writer to touch so many lives. So, as my first post, I would like to share my journey of writing with you.
At the age of 3, I chose to color an entire mural under my mom’s dining room table and chair set (which was later discovered when she was going to sell the furniture… oops!) At the age of 10, I had my first publication. (It was a national poetry book for fifth graders. Still a publication. It was a poem about Valentine's Day, because fifth graders know so much about love.) At the age of 12 I was bullied in school, which led me to have a diary. (Yes, every page began with the infamous ‘dear diary’ heading with a date written next to it.) At the age of 14, my friends and I were obsessed with a boy band and would write songs that we hoped we would sing to the band one day. (But we never started a band. We had some smash hits!) At the age of 16, my friends and I would pass around notebooks in high school. (Gossiping and letting each other know how our days were, as we dropped it into each other’s lockers between classes.) At the age of 18, feeling lost at my new school, I started a blog. (Freshman year sucked. But it sparked something amazing.) By the age of 19, I had my first book published before I went backpacking in Europe. At the age of 20, I have received numerous annoying phone calls from telemarketers claiming to have read my book and all they need is my social security and bank account numbers, and then they can hire me to write for them! Ha-ha.
Which leads me to just a couple of days ago when I received a phone call from a man who said he is calling from The Odyssey and would like to hire me to be editor in chief. In which case, I was sure he was another telemarketer and promptly hung up on him. After denying his second call, I received a couple text messages which read: “Hi Kelly, this is someone* from the Odyssey calling about your application to write for the Elmhurst chapter we're launching. If you're not interested anymore, please let me know so I can remove you from our system! Also -- Don't hang up on someone making you a job offer!” And that leads me to today, writing to you. Obviously, The Odyssey representative forgave my poor manners as I explained and apologized -- with pure embarrassment. I am so excited to check off another accomplishment on my writing journey. Thank you for joining me on this wild ride. Buckle up! It is just the beginning.
