It started with a whale.
A few years ago I found a book that my first grade teacher put together that listed what each student in my class wanted to be when they grew up. I knew then what I’ve known ever since. I wanted to be an author.
But life happened and I got to be 37… 38… (I can’t remember)… and I still hadn’t written an actual book. I had dabbled in having a blog for a few years, had filled up countless journals growing up, had been the editor of my school newspaper, but I never had that idea that inspired the motivation to write. I also didn’t think I had the time, which put writing on the back burner for my young adult life. It just wasn’t in front of me, wasn’t a priority, and I instead built my career, had kids, and lived an otherwise wonderful life. Writing was always in the back of my mind as the one thing I knew I wouldn’t be happy leaving this world without doing, but I just didn’t think I had time. Maybe someday, is what I always told myself.
Then someday literally turned my world upside down.
I had a dream about a whale, and it wasn’t an ordinary dream. I dreamed that I was standing on a beach looking out over the most beautiful scene imaginable. The ocean stretched out in front of me, and behind was a hill covered in vibrant, colorful life. There were flowers, plants, birds, and an actual rainbow painting the sky. I could see the details, feel the sand under my toes, and actually smell the salty air. It was like I was there. There were people I knew standing around me, maybe about 40 or so, all just looking out at the water. Then, suddenly, there was a noise behind us and everyone whipped around, but I was a little slow and was the last to turn. Because everyone else was already looking toward the hill, I was the only one to see a whale that was rapidly approaching the beach. It swam straight up toward me on the shore and skidded to a stop close enough for me to reach out and touch his face. Of course, I did, and I could feel the wet slickness under my hand. The moment was peaceful, until the whale used his nose to nudge me into the water and I found myself tumbling in the waves. Then fear took over, and I tumbled and rolled in the waves until I woke up.
Weird, right?
So, I couldn’t stop thinking about the dream. Two weeks went by and I could still see every detail. I have never been a big what does this dream mean? person, but I looked up a few theories for what dreams about whales could mean but didn’t come up with anything too meaningful. Then I had a day off work, and as soon as my kids got on the bus I had the thought… “That would be a cool start to a book. I wonder how the girl could get out? Maybe someone would save her…”
I got out a spreadsheet (like all normal people do), and started plotting the story. I sat for five hours, drank three cups of coffee, and didn’t stop the flow of ideas until 900 lines were filled. I sat back at the end of the day and realized what I was actually looking at was three books. A trilogy. A young adult fantasy romance that I would not stop obsessing over for the next three years.
I couldn’t stop. I woke up every day at 4:30 and wrote, went to work, wrote more, took days off, became literally obsessed, and wrote the first draft for all three novels in four months. Editing took longer. I’m still in that process with the third book- re-writing and re-plotting and making it better and better all the time. But Shadow of Hope is out there, and my dream of becoming an author came to life in the form of Kalista, Luke, and Raine’s story.