KATHRYN IS Paving the way for girl game DESIGNERS #GIRLPOWER
designers ~
The inspiration for my first book was a drawing I had done at one point of a human/dragon character. It inspired a story, one that I knew no one would know about unless I wrote it. I wanted to read the story so badly that I put it on paper! Sometimes I’m the biggest nerd about my book and get so excited about finishing the next chapter– just like I do when I’m reading!
I hope my readers see that being different from everyone else is totally okay, and that you don’t have to change for anyone. Who you are is amazing, and people don’t want to be around the fake you!
Right now I am reading “Rise to Rebellion” by Jeff Shaara. It’s historical fiction about the events leading up to the writing of the Declaration of Independence, a period in history that I personally adore. It’s great… I love being able to see from Benjamin Franklin’s point of view.
Yes, I experience writer’s block. For “The Prophesied” I actually wrote in a notebook, so when I didn’t know what happened next in my story, I would draw different outcomes in the margins of the pages. With my second book, I’m typing on my laptop, so I don’t have any margins to draw in.
Sometimes I’ll free write for a time, getting a bunch of ideas about the series itself down on paper. Other times I’ll have my sister brainstorm with me.
Having been homeschooled up until 9th grade, my school experience has been both at home and at the places I’m learning about. My parents would schedule trips to places like Williamsburg, Virginia and Yellowstone National Park to teach my sister and I. I found my close group of friends at church and at my new school. Most of my friends at school I met in my first college class during a group project. Now we all sit together at lunch.
The biggest pressure girls my age are facing in today’s society is peer pressure. This has been going on for a while, but it still hasn’t been corrected. Media and peer pressure tell girls that they’re not good enough if they don’t have these clothes or act out against their parents/teachers/school. I lost a few of my friends to peer pressure this year because they were told certain things and thought that they weren’t cool if they hung around me. To deal with peer pressure, I stick close to the friends I know won’t bend to peer pressure. People know we don’t like cussing and inappropriate talk, so we stand out.
We’re different, and while that may mean that we’re not “cool”, it also means we can find other people who think the same way.
When I was in fourth or fifth grade, a new girl came to my church. Even though I tried several times to make friends with her, she slowly began to bully me. When I was in seventh grade my family decided to leave that church for one closer to home. Visiting our new church was a little scary, and the first day there wasn’t great. But the second time we visited, one of the eighth graders told me I was really cool, and that I should come back. Through our friendship, I made a lot of new friends at church. After a few years at our new church, I was back to believing that I was awesome the way I was, and God loved me the way I was.
I’ve had many mentors on my path to becoming a writer, many of whom are fellow YA and/or independently published authors themselves. My parents have also been very encouraging on this journey, and my youth leaders at church have been loads of help, too. I actually met my illustrator through a youth leader at my church!
My best advice for girls who would like to follow in my footsteps and chase their dreams is to stay focused and don’t let people tell you you’re too young or you’re not good enough. You are good enough and you can do it! I meet so many authors who have been turned down by publishing companies because their stories “aren’t going to be ‘big’ in the next year.” They alter their story and its message so much that it just isn’t the same to squeeze their way into being published.