Welcome to my small corner of the internet.

For years, I have been filling notebooks with fantasies, segments of stories, and the occasional and often (in my opinion) cringeworthy poem. I would ink the pages with the worlds of my imagination until they were filled cover to cover – then the notebook would be returned to the shelf.

Despite young dreams of being a writer, of obtaining fame as a world-famous novelist, my stories were my own. They were for me to read, to edit, to rewrite, and ultimately, return to the shelf. Rarely, did I let anyone, close friends or family, read a completed piece let alone a draft! How my younger self believed I could be a writer without sharing my work, I’m not quite sure. Regardless, the closest I ever got to sharing my writing was the short stories I had to write for high school literature class.

Was this rooted in insecurity; thinking that my writing wasn’t good enough? Perhaps. Did I fall into that trap of convincing myself I needed my project to be perfect before it could be read by fresh eyes? Most definitely!

I took a creative writing course in college, in part, to get over this fear of sharing my work and of course there was little to no peer review… so that was a bust. Then, three years ago, I gave myself a birthday present – I entered a writing competition. I thought it would be fun and it would force me to seek out feedback. The former proved true, the latter, less so. Aside from the three sets of judges, I didn’t share my entries with any of the other participants. Oh boy, did I read their entries, but I kept mine safely tucked in a binder on my bookshelf. It was a big enough deal that I let my mother and a friend proofread for me!

The following year I participated again and posted two of my entries in the competition’s forum. Baby steps…

I’m not really sure of what I expect to come of this. I admit, the only reason I even considered creating this blog was so I didn’t have to keep sending my parents links to Google Docs – but now, here I am. I’m treating this as a portfolio of sorts, posting stories I have written throughout the years in their current form, but still, there’s a part of me that hopes maybe, my words will mean something to someone. That somehow, the stories I have to tell will have some sort of impact – and that will never happen if they remain snuggled together on my bookshelf or filed away on my hard drive.

So, welcome to my small corner of the internet, where I will build a more public shelf for my stories to dwell. I hope you enjoy your stay and I’d love for you to visit again.