The Birth of Cycle Thirteen

Cycle Thirteen--My Journey Begins

9/9/2012
It has been nearly five years since I began to write my first novel. I guess since I was a little girl I have always loved writing, but never really thought about it as a career option for myself. Knowing that most writers starve, I opted to become a highly paid teacher instead. Insert sarcasm.

Don't misunderstand...I love my life. Working with kids is my calling, or at least that's what I believe. I enjoy it without question. But at the back of my mind I always knew there was something else I wanted to do...needed to do with my life. And that answer came to me in the form of Cycle Thirteen.

I will never forget how it all came about. Technically, one could say I owe Stephenie Meyer for her inspiration. I had finished reading her Twilight series and like so many others, I was in love. But it wasn't just Edward Cullen that piqued my interests, it was reading. You see, before Twilight, I can't remember the last time I picked up a book that wasn't a textbook. After reading about her love for the Austen books and Bronte's Wuthering Heights, I was consumed with a love for reading. So read I did. All of the classics, Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, Sense and Sensibility, just to name a few. Then I moved on to other young adult series. Some of my favorites were Vampire Diaries, Vampire Academy, and the True Blood series.

Now I know what you're thinking...she's just another Twilight-Vampire-Loving-Old-Mom. Well, admittedly, at first I could have been classified as such. But luckily I digressed and moved on to other genres. Before I left the young adult section of the bookstore though, I realized that this was the genre I was meant to write. All I needed was a great idea...