I started being serious about writing when I was an undergraduate student at Temple University. I decided to pursue writing as a career when I wrote a short story and got positive feedback from a friend. To hone my writing skills, I enrolled in Long Ridge Writers’ Group where I wrote several short stories. At that point, I thought I was writing for the adult market, only to learn from my instructor that my stories were geared toward the young adult or middle grade market.
My early stories did not have a strong sense of place and could have been set anywhere in the world. But later, I decided to write a fantasy middle grade novel set in Zimbabwe that I believe had a better sense of place. The sample pages of the novel helped me get accepted into Hamline’s MFAC program, but I did not complete that novel and I considered writing the novel chapters a learning experience.
During my first semester at Hamline University, I pursued picture book writing. The following semester, I worked on both picture books and a middle grade novel. I actually finished the first draft of the novel, which is set in Zimbabwe. By the end of the program, I had completed several picture book and two novel drafts. Overall, it was a wonderful experience and it’s nice to be surrounded by people who share the same passion as you. There was a sense of community at Hamline University.
That’s all for now. Thanks for stopping by.