Well-Spoken Wednesday--My Experiences as a Child/Young Adult Novelist

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I bet this caught your attention.  You probably did not know that the blogger you are now reading has written several novels.  Actually, it is a little known fact.  Whenever they do those silly games where you share something about yourself that most people don't know, I always share this.  And they are always  shocked.  Oh, did I mention that they are unpublished novels?  I think that little adjective slipped my mind.

As I began to think about what to write tonight, I realized it would make perfect sense to share this little known part of my life with you, my wonderful readers.  And so I shall.  I will share this portion of my life within several posts when I have no book to review on Wednesday nights.

It's hard to say when I first realized that I was a writer.  I can remember writing poetry in fourth grade, but I am sure I began writing before that.  My first poems were very silly.  I can even remember one of the early poems.

The Face
Eyes are so useful
They're not at all toothful
Noses are fun 
Though you can't roll them up in a bun
Mouths are made for singing
They are not made for clinging
And that's the face
Please don't put it in a case.


My fourth grade teacher was a great influence on me.  And it continued into fifth grade and sixth.  We had a weekly writing assignment, but short stories were never easy for me.  I was extremely verbose (okay, I still am, but I am better).  But I was also immensely creative.  So maybe that sounds very prideful, but I don't mean to sound like that.  When it came to stories, I was (and still am) quite creative.

The book that changed everything for me was Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.  My best friend got me interested in reading the series.  I was enthralled.  Yes, I saw the film, too, but I much prefer the books.  I read most of Montgomery's books--I enjoyed them immensely.  And they got me to thinking--maybe I could write a book like that.  I had written many short stories about orphans, but I enjoyed the way this series told the story.  I was also a Little Orphan Annie fan.

When I was in eighth grade, I was in a history class of only five students.  I had been thinking about writing a book for a while, and I finally had my idea.  And so I began my very first novel Doctor Jane.

I'll leave you to take guesses about what that might be, but I will tell you the book ended up being about 380-some pages and has two sequels called Mother Jane and Grandmother Jane.  I actually was going to publish my book.  I had a copy of the Writer's Market.  I was a serious teenage author.  I just never got around to it.  Music became the most important thing to me.

I will certainly share more at another time, but just know that the woman who writes this could be the next great American novelist.  Okay, probably not, but you never know!!