Interviews

What Inspired you to write this book?

Where I got the inspiration from is always a loaded question-- there are so many answers. As a child, I remember playing pretend often. In those adventures, I created a character named Grace. Overtime, I created a family for Grace and a backstory. I began to write small, short stories about her life and her family. Years later, they became the focus of "A War Through Destiny". Certain TV shows and books that I took interest in helped me learn what type of book I was looking to write as well as certain tropes I liked and disliked, but I primarily say that I did not necessarily "plan" this book, rather, I met my friends (the characters) and they told me their story. It's now my honor and purpose to continue to tell it.

How has writing this book changed you as a person/ writer?
Oh this is such a great question. I could not imagine the person I would be without these novels. They definitely made me the outcast growing up. Other kids were playing games and I was writing books. When I got older, people were partying and hanging out with friends and I was writing books. They were my escape, my safe place, my home. I became aware over the years how isolated that made me feel, and there were a few times I thought about throwing it all away just feel "normal". But I realized I didn't want to live in a "normal" where my character's did not exist. Overtime, I would learn lessons about life and utilize these stories to inspire others to learn from those lessons as well. This became my life's goal and intent.

What do you want readers to take away from having read this?

My hope is that they pick up on all the lessons that I have learned. These are lessons that I believe will make humanity better as well support our individual selves. For example, the quote of "the only way you can possibly fail at what you were born to do is if you don't try", is the hallmark of this story. It allows others to recognize that if they fail over and over and over, it simply means life is pushing them away from where they aren't meant to be and towards their destiny. Second, I want them to relate to the characters. I want them to see their quirks, their humor, their strengths and weaknesses and relate to them.

What character do you relate to the most?

Hm. I have never really thought about this. People have told me that I'm Stacy, that they see me in her. I disagree because until this book, I didn't even like Stacy! I did a lot of discovery around who she is and I do like her more now, however, I will always see myself as Grace-- her mother. The original character. The mother figure for all. The one holding the family together. Undying loyalty and bravery. I aspire to be Grace.

Explain what writing this book looked like for you. Daily ritual? Only when you could?

Well, this book took 20 years to write-- so it was certainly unique. I first wrote this book by hand on folded-up printer and wide-ruled paper. I wrote it any moment I wasn't in school or studying. Eventually, I typed it up and tried to pursue publication back in 2006-7, however, I was limited with my knowledge on how to operate the process. The book was then rewritten several times due to computer crashes, flash drives going blank, computers getting stolen-- but giving up was never an option. The last rewrite was a "when I had time" sort of thing. I had two small children and very limited time to write. This made keeping track of the story very difficult and robbed much of the joy from writing. With book two, I intend to create a schedule so that this does not happen.

Where did you draw most inspiration?
Most inspiration definitely came from my ideas growing up!

Should we expect more from you as an author?
Absolutely! Book 2 is in the works. AWTD was originally written as book 1 of a ten book series. I'm not sure if we'll still have ten or if that number might cut down some, but this will absolutely remain a series!

Wow! I want to know more about the process of having to re-write your story over and over. It sounds like your story itself had its own “war through destiny” in a way. But it sounds to me like you carried that story with you and brought it out in spite of all opposition. Could you elaborate on how that affected you emotionally?

I think it got easier and more empowering each time. I always come up with little "mantras" to get myself through my toughest times. So, for these situations, it became: I didn't create this story, they're telling it to me, so if this is how it happened, I'll remember what I wrote and be able to do it again. I figured if there was something I couldn't quite remember, then it wasn't the truth and didn't really happen that way. There was a missing piece! I also found that I added more to the story and it became better each time, so I decided to see this as a blessing in disguise.

So, in the beginning-- it was gut wrenching. Especially when I believe there was a way to get them back from our crashed computer. But, I was only fifteen or sixteen at that point and couldn't do much of anything on my own. I always had a lack of support with my book, so seeing that loss hit even harder. I thought maybe I'm not supposed to write this book, maybe I throw it all away. But God had a plan-- and I'm living it.

What an incredible journey! If readers take away one thing from your book, what would you want them to have?

Hm. I think picking one thing is hard. From reading it: learning that we can forgive our past selves and fulfill our individual purposes. We're all meant to fulfill a unique path and we will have the unique strengths to get us there. Who we were, doesn't define who we are or who we will become. Mistakes can be forgiven, to become who we are meant to be.

On another note, I want people to learn from my journey. I want them to know that it doesn't matter how young you are, your dream is your dream-- chase it! It doesn't matter how many challenges you face-- build resiliency!

That’s beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing!