“I spent centuries wandering the world, from empires to kingdoms to wastelands, never settling, never stopping—not for one moment. I was always looking toward the horizon, always wondering what waited across the next ocean, over the next mountain. But I think … I think that whole time, all those centuries, I was just looking for you.”
— Sarah J. Maas, Queen of Shadows
I’d been searching for almost 20 years. I was on a hunt for magic.
When I was young, there was one series that sparked an interest in me that I will take to my grave. I know this deep in my bones. I am — have always been — a reader.
I look back at pictures of myself as a child, and in at least half of them, I’m holding a book.
I’m talking — toddler on my Papa’s shoulders, leaning over him to point at a book he’s holding — that kind of reader.
But when I was in the 3rd grade, I picked up my first Harry Potter book. I remember reading it, eyes wide, like I couldn’t believe how perfect everything was. There was no other way to describe it. It was purely magical.
Since then, I’ve been looking for a series as magical as that one was for me.
There were so. many. trips to the library. So. many. hours spent on Goodreads, matching the lists of “Fantasy Like Harry Potter” to the available books in my library.
In the Venn Diagram comparing books I wanted to books that were available, the overlap wasn’t very large.
But I trekked over to the library and checked out the few books that matched my niche interest.
They all had male protagonists.
I found lots of good books, don’t get me wrong. Plenty to read in the summer. But none made me feel as magical as Harry Potter. None had my eyes widening, none made me grin as I took in the story and all the moving parts that would come together seamlessly by the end.
I had resigned myself to the fact that there was only one series that could light me up that way, and I just needed to appreciate the fact that it had ever happened at all.
Thank goodness for pushy friends. After about the tenth time Rachel — a teacher friend down the hall — recommended A Court of Thorns and Roses to me, I threw my hands in the air and said, “FINE!” I thought, “What could it hurt, even if it’s less amazing than Harry Potter?” And took the plunge again.
But this time, there was a female lead. A female lead who had multiple romantic interests. Who was a fighter, a survivor, the strongest member of her family. And she was taken against her will to a new place. As I continued to read, I was delighted to find plot twists, believable characters, surprises, and more.
It felt like…I don’t know how else to describe it to you. Magic. Sometimes, the words on a page just sing to my soul. And when my soul recognizes that song, it feels like magic.
I got a few chapters in and had to flip to the back cover and read about the author. When I realized she was close to my age, I was…shook (as the kids say).
That realization literally shook up my world, because it was followed by the thought, “If she can do it, why can’t I?”
Naturally, I devoured the first book — another sign that it’s magic. Then, I read the second book, where she blew my mind, and the mind blowing made me ask again, “If she can do this, why can’t I?”
See, I was reading Harry Potter at the age of 8. When I first learned about J.K. Rowling, she was a grown-up and I was a kid. I guess I thought she had magic of her own that nobody else possessed. As I grew older, nothing ever challenged this view. I continued to read, and continued to be disappointed at the lack of magic in other books.
It wasn’t until the age of 27 that I realized I, too, could write.
The thing is, I’ve always written. There have always been notebooks scattered around my room, half filled with random thoughts and poems and nonsense. And as technology developed, untitled Google Docs replaced the random scribbles.
In the past, I waited for desperation to push me to the pen. I waited to be overwhelmed by emotion — sadness, anger, jealousy, joy — before resorting to writing.
When I took a writing class for teachers, called The Upstate Writing Project, they set aside time for us to write creatively every. single. day. By creatively, I mean just for the purpose of writing and seeing what our voice sounded like. I have feelings about the phrase “creative writing,” but that’s another post for another day.
In that class, I learned that my voice seems to resonate with people. In that class, I shared my writing aloud with others. I commend those teachers for creating an environment safe enough for this introvert to share her writing aloud for the first time ever. It left a lasting imprint, clearly.
Because now, I want to hone my writing skills. I want to challenge myself. I want to create something that I’m proud of.
My first attempt at writing a fantasy novel was with the friend who introduced me to A Court of Thorns and Roses. She is great with character details — hair color, eye color, names. She’s also great with dialogue.
I’m great at different things. I love world-building. I love researching. I love outlining.
But our schedules didn’t allow us to complete the project, and by the time our schedules had ironed out a bit, my interest was elsewhere.
My solo idea was to write a book that was like Harry Potter mixed with Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I still love that concept.
I don’t know how closely my final product will resemble my initial idea. And that’s totally fine, despite my anxiety about that very fact.
I have made some serious efforts to start this book. I’ve started it three different times, now, as a matter of fact.
I have a digital folder with the working title of the book. Inside that folder is a supremely Type-A outline consisting of 27 chapters. I have a Pinterest board dedicated to images I’d like to include in the book, as well as another board of writing style advice I want to remember. I’ve drawn the main character on my iPad. I’ve completed a 52-question questionnaire about my main character, and I completed that same questionnaire about 2 other characters in the book.
I don’t have my antagonist fully fleshed out yet. I haven’t decided on a lot of structural elements I’ll need to write the next several chapters. I don’t know how fully I’ll be committing to the outline. I don’t know how I’m going to make it a magical experience for my readers.
But I am on this journey. My book is a work in progress. And I’d like to share with you as I go through the process.
Hopefully, when I’m finished, you’ll be asking yourself, “If she can do it, why can’t I?”
Blessed Be
The Writing Witch 