A few years back I decided I would embark on an epic journey of my own; I would write my own book, no, I would write a trilogy.
Why did I decide to embark on such a journey, because I adore stories, whether they're written, spoken, acted or however they come to be; I adore them. I love how regardless of how horrendous your life can be at any one point, stories have an unique ability of, momentarily, easing that horror. And, sometimes it is only just a moment that's needed to gain traction and regain control of your life.
So, many years ago, when I decided to write my book, I had that in the back of my mind; whose life would I alter? Would it be possible to actually influence a stranger's life, just as so many books had mine? Could I inspire them to keep going, or perhaps I could make them smile when they're at their lowest point. Or perhaps I could simply pull them from their reality, for just a moment, and allow them to forget their woes in their life.
As time progressed, so did my story, until the final word was written.Then it was time to publish it, it was time for the world to see my writing. I felt like I was showing everyone my naked soul, and it terrified me! I actually went to my best friend's house and cried just after I published it, I was so overwhelmed with emotion I thought I was going to explode. Was I good enough? Could have I done better? What if people don't like it? But what if they DO like it?
Then the next stage of publishing, advertising, getting people to read my work, praying they like it, writing blogs etc. etc. etc. I opened my first blog and began to write, deleted it, wrote it again, deleted it, and so on, and so forth.
By the time I had finished, I ended up with a passage which sounded great, but it certainly didn't sound like me. But, I thought, 'no I need to sound professional, like an author, there's a certain etiquette required to be an author.' And so I continued, writing through another's mind. Initially it wasn't too bad, just like writing a character, really. But you can only portray a character for so long until it begins to wear you down. And wear me down it did, I forgot why i loved stories, I stopped reading, stopped writing. I became consumed with the need to impress the world.

So, I've recently dropped the guise, stopped pretending to be some illustrious author who has everything in her life sorted, because I don't. But most importantly I've stopped trying to impress people - You either like me or you don't, you either like my work or you don't.
Since I have taken on this new approach, I've began to read again, not to analyse other author's work to see if mine is up to scratch. But to read for the sheer enjoyment, I had actually almost forgotten how thrilling it is to become lost in another's book.
I write this blog to all new authors who share the same terror of putting their work out there, the fear of rejection and the feeling of inadequacy.
In the wonderful words of Dr. Seuss:
' Today you are you,
That's truer than true.
There's no-one alive,
That's youer than you.'

So be you! Learn from my mistakes, don't try to be someone else, don't try to impress others, don't loose sight of all the wonder and glory in the world by your own inhibitions.
Don't loose sight of what you truly love.