Inspiration

This field is across the street from the house I grew up in, and where my brother now lives. It's the field Joe and I got married in. I love this field! But there's something not a lot of people know about this field of mine.

When I was a teenager, I would walk past this field quite a lot on my way up the street to babysit. With nothing else to think about, I used to make up stories on my way to and from. Especially at night, when it was a little scary, I'd imagine aliens and kidnappers and stuff like that. One of the things I imagined was a girl who walked into the field and somehow ended up in a different world altogether. And unlike the aliens, this story really stuck with me.

At the tender age of 14, I typed out my first "novel" on my mom's manual typewriter (using a very quick two finger method!). It was 25 pages long and jam packed with action. Over the years, I continued to work on this idea. Page length grew, characters changed, I filled up a book with back history and mythology, and even crafted a map with overlays and everything. Today, this novel still languishes on my computer, unfinished. Every few months I get the bug to start working on it again - I'm in one of those periods right now - and imagine what a sense of accomplishment I'll get if I can ever get the darn thing finished!

I still have my original version of the story, signed with my oh-so-hip 14 year old pen name Cassie Christian, and the characters are never too far from my mind. So stay tuned, and maybe one day I'll be able to report my triumphant completion of my life's work! Maybe...