Follow your Dreams…Literally

So many of us grew up listening to parents, teachers, and guidance counselors telling us those somewhat corny motivational sayings like "Shoot for the moon, and even if you miss, you'll land among the stars" or "You can do anything you put your mind to," and of course, the age-old saying of "Follow your dreams!" And while I may say that I hate clichés, I seem to have interpreted that last one a bit too seriously.

            To explain, I have to take you back to when I was sixteen. It was September 25th, and I was sleeping over at my grandmother's apartment. That morning, I woke up from a dream I couldn't remember. There was only one image left in my mind from it: the silhouette of a man wielding a long black sword laced with lightning, and riding a black griffin, fire behind them. I didn't know what this meant; in fact, I was pretty sure that it didn't mean anything…yet I felt compelled to figure out who the man on the griffin was.

I'd been teaching myself how to write for years… so that day, during our "quiet/reading time", I sat down with my school iPad and began to write a story about who the man on the griffin was. In my mind, he was a bounty hunter, a man with no morals, a man who had made the wrong choices at every turn. He was someone who was flawed, and he knew it, someone who constantly claimed himself to be irredeemable until she walked into his life. I made up some new characters…the ordinary girl the bounty hunter "saves" from her burning shore-town, the leader of the shady bounty hunter organization, the somewhat kooky and scattered fortune teller who sets them on their quest, and of course, the death cultist villains, dwelling in their dark cave and awaiting the return of their goddess.

While my first attempt at the story was far from being a literary masterpiece, I genuinely enjoyed the ideas behind it. At the very least, it was something that I could reread and only cringe once every chapter versus once every page like some of my past projects. I edited it several times before I decided it just needed a full rewrite. So, back to the drawing board again. I filled in some plot holes, added some more scenes, and fleshed out the characters, and so much more. I think I changed one of my villain's names at least 5 times. I continued to have fun with it, and my "pipe dream" job slowly became being an author. This story got me through so many of the ups and downs of high school, and as busy as college has tried to keep me, I've managed to keep up with it there, too. So, I started researching. How did my favorite authors wind up on the shelves? And how was I going to get there?

I looked into self-publishing, but I thought it would be really cool to see my name on a shelf next to all the authors I've loved throughout my life. Traditional publishing seemed really daunting at first…talk of endless slush piles, overflowing e-mail inboxes, and rejections surrounded the industry. Nevertheless, I really wanted it…and I told myself that if I wanted it enough, and was persistent enough, someone would give me a shot.

I finally took a chance on my dream job and started querying publishers. I landed a publishing contract with Green Avenue Books and Publishing. My debut romantasy novel, Bloodshade Chronicles: Rogue Hunter is going to be on shelves on August 11^th, 2026, and I couldn't be happier.

I started this project four years ago, and it's crazy to think that a dream I barely remembered gave me the story that now holds such a significant place in my life. So, for as cliché as it is, I want to encourage you to always follow your dreams, in whatever way you interpret the saying. After all…one small dream can lead to an even bigger one.