A Change of Fate

When I was younger, I was an avid reader. I was reading whole series within a week, sometimes a day if I was left alone enough. At this point in time in my life, I was eleven years old. We had a reading program in school called Accelerated Reading, where you would read books within your reading level, and you take a small test on them on the computer to get points in return to see how well you comprehended the book you had just read.

Almost halfway through the school year, I had already reached my goal amount of points, and they had needed to adjust my points so that I still had goals to meet with reading. My English teacher at the time had suggested that I read the first book in James Patterson's series "Maximum Ride." Despite it not being something I would normally pick up, she had never steered me wrong when it came to books. That night, I devoured the book and found the rest of the books in the series in her classroom. Over time, I finished the series that at the time had ended with "Nevermore."

Once I finished "Nevermore," I felt like a part of me was missing. I wasn't satisfied with the ending of it, and I was left wanting more. I felt there was still more that my favourite characters had to still experience with each other. So, I rewrote the ending to one that satisfied me more. What I didn't know, was that "Nevermore" sparked something inside of me that would later turn into a fire of passion that I wouldn’t be able to tame.

Once I wrote the new and improved, of course that is in my opinion, ending to the book, I wanted to write more. Shortly after the new ending, I wrote my own version of a "Maximum Ride" spin-off, making my very first short story. Now, by no means was it good. I'm sure it was probably one of the worst things I've ever written, and I wish that I still had it so that maybe I could revisit it and rewrite it.

But through "Nevermore," I gained a hobby, that later, would turn into something much greater. It would turn into something I never knew I wanted, but would be everything I needed in life.

Over the years, I continued to write. After my short story of my version of "Maximum Ride," I wrote another short story that was based off of the Disney movie "Twitches." The only difference between my short story and "Twitches" was that where the girls in the movies had necklaces, where mine had tattoos that they were born with.

After my two short stories, I began to write excerpts, but I knew that it wouldn't be enough. I knew that the more I wrote the excerpts the more I would want to write my own novel one day.

I have always been one with an active imagination, loving to tell and read stories to anyone and everyone whom would listen. I even would act out scenes with my siblings growing up, or we would pretend we were in one of our favourite movies or television shows.

As I got older, I started to gain novel ideas through my excerpts, grouping together certain ones that could all be part of the same book. Doing that allowed me to write other excerpts to help make them flow together easier.

Flash forward, and now I am twenty two years old. And I'm still writing. Truth be told, it’s all I can think about.

Writing, a long time ago, turned from a hobby into a passion, and now I'm on my way to making it a lifelong career that will never feel as though I am working, because I love to do it. Writing, the art and craft and every detail in between, consumes my life- and truth be told, I wouldn't have it any other way.

I don't know who I would be without writing, and without my abundant novels that are in queue, waiting for their story to be told. I hold all of my characters close to me, and as I work on my fourth manuscript, I revel in the feeling of knowing that I'm working towards becoming a self-published author.

I never thought that when I grew older, I would want to be someone who wrote and told stories to the world, enriching minds with words and locking them in between the pages of the books waiting to know what happens next.

When I was younger, I wanted to be a baker. I loved baking cakes, cookies, desserts of any kind. I baked any time I could, and always helped my grandma and mom on the holidays.

Whereas I've found my passion and career I want to have in life, I still love baking desserts alongside writing my manuscripts. I still want to open a bakery, and have it paired as a bookshop as well.

If I never had "Maximum Ride" suggested to me, I never would have found my love of writing. Or maybe I would have, but it would have been way further down the line. I wouldn't be where I am today in my writing journey. However, the novel "Nevermore" by James Patterson changed the me, and the course of what I thought my future would be, I couldn't be happier with the outcome.