Is a writer born? Or created?

>I started writing my first novel when I was in third grade. I was going to be the first famous child novelist. And I had a great idea for a novel (which I still plan to use someday). The trouble? I was eight or nine and had a lot of other things to do.

So I didn’t become the first famous child novelist.

In May 2009 I had the idea for another novel, The Academie. This I pitched to my writer husband, Christian, who promptly turned it down. My response: “Fine, I’ll write it myself.”

Almost half the book was written within a matter of weeks. Then I had to take on a heavier teaching load so we could make ends meet, and the book project got set aside. Meanwhile, I developed a hyperthyroid problem that began taking a toll on everything I did (though I didn’t know at the time what was wrong or that I needed to see someone about it). Despite feeling lousy, I pressed on, taking on more classes, until my body starting fighting back in the fall of 2010.

I was in teaching class the first time it happened: I had a chest pain. But not just any chest pain. A severe chest pain. “I’m having a heart attack,” I remember telling my class. “Great, I’m going to die at school. Wait–someone has to finish my book!” Blank faces stared back at me.

I didn’t have a heart attack that day, but I did have revelation. Okay, two revelations. 1. I needed to get to a doctor and 2. I needed to finish my novel.

As winter dragged on, I battled Graves Disease and went to more doctors’ appointments than I care to count, and I finally finished the first draft of my novel.

So the question remains: is a writer born or created? My answer: maybe a little bit of both.

PS Now I’m in the midst of revising The Academie, and I must say, you’re gonna love it! YA (young adult), but reaching beyond, it probes in to our fears and into our minds…It’s an experience you won’t soon forget. As for Grave’s Disease, I’m on the road to recovery.

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