I’m a writer.

There I said it. There’s no going back. It’s right there in black and white. I am a writer. I may not have always known this small fact about myself, but there’s no denying it now. There are stories in me that must be made real.

This decision to become a writer came to me after years of using my creativity to crochet amigurumi (Japanese word loosely translated to mean crocheted stuffed doll). I’ve always been in awe of writers and the amazing stories they come up with. I even rolled the idea around in my head of becoming one myself a time or two. Here was the one problem: to be a writer, you have to write. Not only that, you had to have a story to tell that no one has told already. The idea of me becoming a writer, flew out the window as soon as I realized I had no story to tell.

One day, while searching handmade items on Etsy, an idea—the idea—finally came to me. It came and it stayed. This story was one I couldn’t shake. It was so insistent that I had to tell someone about it. That night, I let my husband in on the story of Adeline (as she would later be named). I told him brief concept ideas that painted the picture of the world this ten-year-old girl lived in. When I was done, he had only one thing to say, “Write it all down.” Even if I never did anything with it, the story was unique and needed to be put down on paper.

Nine months later the first draft was finished, and after many more years of editing, it is now on its way in search of publication. Since then, I’ve written another book for a planned Young Adult (YA) Fantasy trilogy. The entire book was written during one month for National Novel Writing Month (NanoWriMo) 2015, and is now entering the beginning stages of the editing process.

Through it all, I continue to hone my craft in the art of crochet amigurumi. I have an idea for a book of amigurumi patterns, which I plan to begin drafting this year. I also am a huge fan of art, illustration to be more specific, and would love to be both an author and illustrator one day, not only for my own books, but also as an illustrator for other author’s stories as well.

If you’re curious to know what I’m working on at the moment, whether it’s a new illustration for a book, editing or writing one of my stories, creating new patterns for amigurumi, or simply spending some time crafting up gifts for loved ones, all my goings on will be shared here.

Over the years I have learned a little about a lot of things: the how-to’s of writing and querying; how to crochet amigurumi and to create my own patterns; even the difficulties one can face when working with various mediums in art, such as watercolor, need I say more? I will share my experiences and what I’ve learned through the process of honing my hobbies into what I hope to become my career. I will even share my failures throughout the creative process, as a way to show you how I took those failures and changed them into successes.

This blog is meant to be an inspiration for writers, illustrators, and crafters alike, offering a “How to guide” on everything from how to create a magic ring in crochet to how to write a successful dialogue. I will also share all my insights with you, the things I’ve learned, and resources I’ve found helpful throughout the learning process. If you have found other ways of doing things that have served you better in achieving success, I encourage all of you to contribute your positive ideas and constructive comments in the “Add a Comment” section at the end of each post. I would love to strike up a conversation with each of you.

If you are interested in crochet, you can expect to see free amigurumi patterns pop up on occasion. There will also be amigurumi giveaways of finished amis handcrafted by me, videos on how to accomplish a variety of crochet stitches, how to assemble constructed pattern pieces, basic embroidery, and more. My creativity in the realm of crafts, however, is not limited to crocheting alone. I knit on occasion, sew some, and you should see what I can do with a hot glue gun!

If there is something you would like to see a post about that is related to writing, editing, querying, illustrating, or crafting, regardless of what it is, please feel free to share it with me! If it is something I know about or I can find out enough about to pass on, I would love my blog to provide each of us challenges and to bolster other artists in achieving their own success.

Being an artist, whether you are putting words to paper or colors on canvas, or if you spend your time creating something else with your hands, I hope that by reading my blog you will come to realize that it’s okay to have more than one passion because that is what makes each of us interesting. Even if you just visited my blog to learn about amigurumi and crafting, I hope you will enjoy my posts enough to want to learn about other things that may also pique your interest. You never know!

I certainly never set out to do all the things I ended up loving to do. Art and creativity come in many colors and forms and I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them.