Writing My Way Out

When I was a very young girl, I fell in love with James and the Giant Peach. It was amazing to be transported out of this world and flying through the air on an epic sized piece of fruit.

But I didn’t dare to be a writer because those are people who have epic imaginations with good grammar and the ability to spell. My first thwarted intention was when I was in second grade. The teacher marked me down for a word she couldn’t identity and because it was a short story the meaningful word was unclear. I also found it unclear as an adult and went back into letting it go.

In college one of my professors tried to encourage me, she wasn’t wrong. I wrote about imagination, fantasy, and daydreams as if they were their own portals to another world. My desire to weave the words that could cast a spell and teach lessons without the traditional clichés or morals. Because life isn’t a fairy tale and nothing is clear.

And this is my year to explore becoming that person in writing. I envision ending 2025 with five songs on the radio, one musical about to be in production, five tv shows, and a book series published.

I am happy to share that it’s time to publish the book series I wrote. It is a journal prompt series that focuses on connecting to your own inner voice and sense of self worth. I noticed no matter what I achieved or did there wasn’t necessarily a feeling of being great or achieved, just admired. And I sought everything, expecting the high to leave me feeling whole. After eight degrees, completing over 365 pieces of art during the pandemic, and finishing an autobiography along with 100 pieces of art for a course there was no feeling of enoughness. It was just one more thing I did and could add to the list of accomplishments. So then what does leave someone feeling fulfilled and accomplished? That’s what began the series for me: finding out what I valued. What do I find challenging? What would fulfill me? And I am looking forward to publishing as I finally feel like I have found some keys to unlock an internal mystery that is worth sharing.

The five tv shows are stories that have been floating around in my head for months. I am not looking forward to formatting for a script. And I would love to see the visuals that go along with the stories that showed up for me.

There are portals which are centered on two characters that can jump into alternative universes. They meet and fall in love yet the girl is confused by some dramatic changes in the guy. She is on the hunt to find out what has caused him to become so different. And what she discovers unravels a whole new set of questions regarding acceptable coping strategies and behaviors.

The second series has no title yet but is about a woman who is entering alternative universes without knowing it. She gets stressed and leaves her world for another. In the process of being gone, she meets and falls in love with a guy. After they are both in love, she starts jumping timelines and runs into him beforehand. In the background of them exploring how it will work with her jumping back and forth, there is a the government trying to find the element that temporarily makes the world unstable. Can they sort it out while she is being hunted?

I am so present to how much I love the idea of alternative universes because you guessed it number three has that element. The woman has been dumped by a traveler but doesn’t know it. So when she gets sucked into an alternative universe by accident she is lost as to how to get back home. She stumbles upon the discovery that she isn’t home. And she meets a character in one of the elevators that kindly educates her that in order to be home permanently she has to find the guy who dumped her.

The other series are not something I have fleshed out yet. There could be the healers who are meant to heal broken hearts. The person who trained them is aghast when they meet and fall in love. The series is watching them separately, seeing them meet, and seeing if anyone can truly have them reunite.

The last one that’s is loosely thought up is a man who is traveling all parallel universes to be with the one girl he loves. He finds her dead in most universes. When he finds the alive one, he is spending his time trying to get her to see how they were meant to be together. She thinks he is weird and concerning but is down to listen.

As far as the musicals go there has been a desire to explore which one to complete and mostly I love this idea of poking fun at stereotypes. So the first one I could complete is on getting to know people, seeing how they misunderstand each other, and what different world views they hold.

The last concept of having songs on the radio feels like the least likely event. I write songs as in lyrics and tunes but I have never professionally recorded a demo. I have never had background music. This year I am a part of songwriting group and we have to write a song every two weeks. The most challenging part is uploading to SoundCloud or YouTube. It will be a new experience to have my music out in front of people on these platforms.

And I can’t wait to have music playing on the radio for all to hear. This is by far the most exciting detail as I love when a good writer pours their heart out. That opportunity to know it’s human to yell, scream, or cry is so gratifying. The access to all emotions over any topic feels so good to my soul.