Why I am Chasing Katharine

Eighth grade: the blip of embarrassment of any grown adult. And I was stuck there with my triangle hair, sparkly retainer, and nerdy full-blown obsession with young adult fiction that stemmed from my early childhood. 

Books were my outlet, helping me jump into adventures I imagined I was too young to have. I devoured them one by one, often one in a day. J.K. Rowling, Meg Cabot, and so many others (probably with the help of a little too much sugar before bed) painted my dreams, which is where I met Katharine. 

Katharine (yes, it's spelled correctly) is where my writing finally began to take shape. She lives in my head even now, and is why I thought for some insane reason that I (at the mature age of 13) could be a famous writer like my teen-life icons. Katharine haunted my nights, with her auburn hair and fiery spirit. I would be her in the battle of a mythical land, racing across fields to face my enemies with swords and magic. Her story would break into my dreams occasionally, and I would feel reenergized, ready to write again.

I've written and rewritten, stopped writing and stopped believing I would ever finish it. Every year or so, I pull it back out, look at the editing marks, praying for inspiration and better skill. And every year, I put it away, because there is not enough time to focus or a bad case of bad writer's block or 100 other excuses I have made since I began writing it. Over the years, I have started seven (yes, seven) stories and danced around countless ideas I intended on finishing, for which I made the same excuses. 

What it really comes down to is fear. I've never been keen to let people read my stories, opening myself to public criticisms on thoughts that for so long have been my private musings. Even in my teens, only a few people were allowed, which included my best friend who lovingly told me that  Katharine's Story (a working title that was never changed) was amazing and has been asking for the next chapter for nearly a decade. 

I've been waiting for the story to come to me, which wasn't working; I think it's time I start chasing Katharine. This blog is the first step in my effort to opening my stories up for viewing. So here it goes...