Why did I write chapter one?

I’ve told my story before, but it’s easy enough to say that I wrote it at a dark time in my life, and COVID happened.
I had just had a cancer scare; we were all going through a pandemic, and I lost a very young family member.
But that’s not the whole story.

I have always loved writing. As a child, I was always working on something; whether it was stories, plays, or poems, it didn’t matter; I was writing.
I am also an avid reader. I devour books. They are an escape from reality.
As I grew older, life got in the way, as it does for everyone.
Chapter One started as a little short story many, many years ago, and had a completely different plot. I left it a few years, then tried rewriting it. I didn’t get very far. And that’s how it stayed.
The day before my 20th birthday, I received a life-altering diagnosis of PCOS and Hypothyroidism. Okay, fair enough they aren’t life-threatening conditions and are relatively manageable, but to me, who was basically still a kid at that age, it was the worst news.
The specialist said that when I was ready to try for kids, I would have six months to try naturally before I’d have to use IVF, and even then it was highly likely I was infertile due to the hypothyroidism. He didn’t want to test it then and completely break my spirit.
The following two years of my life were spent being poked and prodded, in and out of doctors' offices and visiting the IVF clinic, which is where the dietitian I had to see had his office.
I wanted nothing more than to be a mum when I was a kid, and then to receive that news was absolutely devastating.
I spiralled out of control for a few months before I began working through my issues and started writing a story called ‘The Glory Of Nineteen’. It was about how blissfully ignorant we all are as we teeter on the edge of our twenties. It helped me to process everything and get my life back on track.
A few years after my diagnosis, I had intense pain in my right side. A cyst was about to burst, or so I thought. The pain was worse than it had ever been; I had a fever, I was nauseous, and eventually, I began urinating blood.
I slept on it for good measure, as these episodes do normally pass after a day or two.
The next morning was worse.
Went to the doctor, then to the hospital. My appendix was about to burst. You may have all seen that coming, but when you have PCOS, it’s very similar. I was in and out that day. Whilst I was off from work for a brief three days (I was young and told if I didn’t come back immediately, I would be fired), I started writing a story called ‘Paradise Found’. Yes, I know, tacky, overused and predictable. I was only 22 at the time.
I did upload it to Fanfiction; however, it was under a different title, and I can’t remember the handle I used to upload it. I am sure one of you could figure it out. This story was the basis for Chapter One. I loved the concept of the story; an average girl meets her celebrity crush, and they fall in love. A very stereotypical romance and an overused trope, but I love it!

My life was back on track for a while. I enjoyed travelling, working overseas, and making all the wrong decisions. Writing took a backseat whilst I lived my life to the fullest.
I found my draft copy of ‘Paradise found’ and tweaked it. I changed the characters and updated the story a little. I rewrote three whole pages. It was called ‘new story’ for years. The first page of Chapter One is still the same.

At the beginning of 2020, I found a lump on my back. I went to the doctor; he wasn’t worried, so I wasn’t worried. He removed the lump. Everything was fine. A few months later, in the middle of a pandemic, it had grown back, only this time, it was much bigger. I went back to the doctor. This time he was a little worried, so I was a little worried. He referred me to a specialist.
The specialist was also worried, and scheduled me to have it removed the next day. My mum was overseas at the time, I called her, and she was on the next plane home. She was home in time to take me to the hospital. Thankfully it was only New Zealand; otherwise, she may not have made it home in time.
I was in and out of hospital that day. They sent to tumour off to be tested as they were worried it may have been cancerous. Actually, they were almost positive it was, due to the fact that it had grown so fast so quickly.
That was the longest and most stressful two weeks of my life. Forget the fact that we were struggling through a pandemic; there was a chance I had cancer.
The results came back negative. There were two tumours sitting on top of each other, and when they removed the first one, the second one grew to the space provided, much like a fish in a tank.

The world then began going into lockdowns. 2021 began much the same as 2020 ended. We were still in and out of lockdowns. I started and failed at my first small business. In hindsight, it probably wasn’t a good idea to start one in the middle of a world crisis.
Devastating news hit my family when we found out that my uncle, dad’s brother, had died. He was a lovely man, and we had just begun building bridges again. My dad never really spoke to his family, so when my cousin reached out a few years ago, we began mending the divide. The news of my uncle’s death was a huge loss and a massive setback.
Less than two weeks later, my aunt, mum’s sister, called to inform us that her son, my cousin, had died the night before. He was only 22. This was even more devastating. It reminded me that life is short. It put so many things into perspective for me. I should focus on the things I love as death could be around the corner.
We flew interstate for the funeral and stayed with my aunt for a few days.
Upon returning home, the pandemic picked up again, and we went back into lockdown. This was when we had the most restrictions, and things became serious.
I was going stir-crazy being stuck at home.

I knew I wanted to get back into the things I loved, so when I came across ‘new story’, I knew what I wanted to do. I was going to rewrite it. It was only ever supposed to be for myself and friends to keep us entertained during lockdown. I would write, then send out a weekly email blast with the updates.
The story then built some traction, with friends sharing it with their friends. I knew I was onto something.
I continued writing, and before I knew it, it was 250 pages long. My mum then encouraged me to look into self-publishing and get it out there.
That’s exactly what I did.

Chapter One isn’t the next great novel, and I know that. It was a passion project that I decided to share with the world.
The story didn’t end there, though, so I continued writing, and before I knew it, Chapter Two was complete. It took a lot longer than Chapter One did, as the world had opened back up again, and life returned to normal, well, a new normal, and my writing skills improved. You have to start somewhere, right?

Romance isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and I understand that. Chapter One is my story, my escape from reality. It’s my passion project.

Chapter Two is in the final stages of editing and will be out soon. I will revisit Chapter One once Chapter Three is finished, yes there will be a third, and get it where it needs to be.

In the meantime, I hope you take a moment out of your, no doubt, busy lives to give Chapter One a read. It’s an easy read, and an enjoyable one.

It is available to purchase from my website www.taylorpagewrites.com.au