...or at least not make a fool of myself
There
are only a handful of things in my life that I am completely sure of and one of
those things is that I want to be an author.
(Ugh is it just me or does that sound very Twilighty…LOL) Writing has
always been something that feels very natural to me. There is nothing I love more than opening a
new notebook and putting a pen to paper or letting my fingers fly over the
keyboard as I fill a blank page with type.
It calms me and focuses me. While
writing it is one of the times that I can make my brain be quiet (I know that
sounds backwards but it’s the only way I can explain it) and not worry about
anything. If I’m having a bad day there
is nothing that can make it right faster than sitting down to create something
with words whether it is a blog or journal entry, a piece of fiction or even a
poem. The simple fact is I love words
and all the promise/hope they bring. I
share this so you can understand the significance of what I’m about to write
about. It has me so excited my brain is
doing laps around itself screaming excitedly.
Over
the last two years I have been letting my hidden geek out and going to meet
some of my all-time favourite stars at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment
Expo. I consider myself very lucky to
have been able to meet some of my long time crushes. Well once again this year I have bought my
ticket and I’m ready to geek out for a weekend.
I expected that by the time April rolled around I would be bouncing off
the wall for some cute actor but what I wasn’t expecting is that as of right
now it’s not a famous actor that I’m excited for but it is one of my favourite
author’s from my childhood. Calgary Expo
announced that R. L. Stine is coming. (Even
writing this sentence makes me want to jump for joy and run around screaming –
I so have no hope of ever being cool.)
There
are a handful of authors from my childhood that stand out because they told
stories in ways that caught my imagination.
People like C.S. Lewis, Lucy Maud Montgomery, E.B White, Gordon Korman
and of course R.L. Stine are just a few of my favourites that helped me not
only develop a love of reading but also helped to create a desire within me to
want to write. These are authors of
books that I devoured over and over again (heck even now as an adult I still often
re-read them). It was through them that I began to see the
power of language. The ability to teach,
entertain or even just transport someone to another place are all things that I
loved (and still love) about words.
Reading author’s that I would consider masters of the world of words
inspired me to want to do the same. I
knew that I had stories I want to share and tell and they offered me a glimpse
of how I could do it.
I
began to carry around a notebook with me all the time even way back in
elementary school. I would fill them
with random poems or short little excerpts of writing. I still have all my old writing and let me
tell you it is all pretty silly and bad but it was a start. As I started to get a little older I began to
want to get better so I began to take ideas from television or other novels and
see what I could come up with. My very
first short stories of any length were actually stolen ideas and images from
R.L Stine’s Fear Street books. I began
to create creepy tales that allowed me to do things that I couldn’t do in real
life. I will admit there were probably a
few characters that saw the darker side of my pen because of the stuff I put up
with in school but at least it gave me a safe and sane outlet right? ;-)
Needless
to say when I saw the guest announcement on Thursday I was over the moon with
excitement. I could hardly focus at work
and instantly I was trying to remember where I put the box of my old favourite
books so I could dig out the old Fear Street books and re-read them again. With the excitement though there is also a
level of panic that is sneaking in. I am
about to meet one of the authors that I admire and that put me onto a path that
will one day hopefully end up with me and a published novel (or 2 or 3). What the heck do you say to someone like
that? I mean sure I have been nervous
about meeting childhood crushes but this is so much more - without author’s
like Stine who knows what I would be doing with my free time. I feel the pressure to be witty and
intelligent and actually be able to say something to him that will not make me
seem like a foolish fan girl. This is
the sort of pressure that usually has me running for the hills to hide behind
an email (because I can totally write something intelligent – I think anyway). I guess the good news is that I have a few
months to work on it. With a little luck
I will be able to put something into my brain that won’t just fly out right at
the moment I saw hi to him. I will try
however to keep the panic at bay and just enjoy the excitement of knowing that
I’m going to get to meet someone that unbeknownst to him, helped to shape my
whole desire to be a fiction writer.
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