DONE!

I am very happy to write this post to announce that I am done.
Yes. That's right. Twisted is now complete and ready to be published. This is an amazing moment for me. I spent nearly 2 1/2 years working on this book. From rough draft to final form I've learned so much.
I began this book at the tender age of 15, still well within the bounds of a growing child. I finished it at 18, now an adult, though I am not done learning yet.
When I began writing Twisted I'll be the first to admit that my writing skills weren't very sharp. I repeated things over and over again. My plots weren't exactly award winners. Now I feel very confident in what I write. It makes me happy to sit in front of my computer and take what once was a blank page and fill it will heart.
I've given this book every ounce of effort I have. There's not a single part of me that I withheld from writing. I'm a dreamer and I've spent so long dreaming about this moment, now that it's happening for real I'm kind in a state of shock.
Don't worry, I'll wake up.
I guess you can say that I've changed from the start. When I was fifteen I was sure the world was out to get me. I wasn't very social, I could never pick up the phone or strike up a conversation with someone I hadn't know for years. I also wasn't very responsible, my parents didn't trust me that much. I wasn't exactly what you'd call an angel.
My saving quality was probably my love of writing.
It takes commitment to write. Before this time I'd never really been committed to anything. I made half-hearted efforts and things from time to time but never a full try. When I did write (I did everyday on a book that I started before Twisted) I spent most of it worrying. It took forever and I got about one chapter done everyday if I was lucky.
Then Aster the Terrible walked into my life. It was roughly after I finished the book mentioned above. My sister took it away so I couldn't read it for a month which was apparently supposed to help your writer's brain recover. I wasn't supposed to read it or write it or whatever.
I went stir-crazy. I think it was about two weeks where I fought for something, ANYTHING to write. I'd written this little blurb (I think I got about 4 chapters and some scenes done) about one of the characters from the other book. It inspired what was to come. On March 8, 2011 my journey really began. I don't even remember what I was thinking as I sat down one day and began writing.
Somehow or another these words spilled across the page.
Oh what a world. I was at the height of my reign of plunder.
BAM. I was hooked.
14 days later I was done. I'd written a 210 (I think) page book in 14 days. It had a plot, character development, twists turns and even a name. It was simply meant to be.
I wrote the first 2 drafts of Twisted in 2011. They weren't very good, but I didn't care. I loved my characters. I loved writing about them, thinking about them, drawing them. I also started and finished the second book.
By now I think my entire family was involved. I was sixteen by then and I think a bit more mature. I began getting serious about getting the book published. I always meant to get it published, but didn't get really serious until the third draft.
I was fully committed now. I had my "I want to quit!" moments, but I always (and thankfully!) got past them. I began waking up at 5 in the morning to get more time to write. I was pounding out about 100 pages a week. Amazingly my behavior got better. I was less whiny (until I got sick, then bombs away!) my parents began to trust me more and I was getting to know my siblings better.
Now almost 3 years later I'm definitely not the same person I was when I began this book. I am much more able to handle problems maturely, things that terrified my fifteen-year-old self don't even cause me to blink...much. I honestly don't care what people think. I'd go sing a nursery rhyme in Grand Central Station for fun.
It all began with a book and the effort of trying to get it published. I am able to set goals and accomplish them, I can look at problems backwards, forwards, upside down, and sideways. When I get stuck I don't panic for weeks. I allow myself to freak out and then move on with it.
What is this all about...well it's mainly just me contemplating my journey. I know it's far from over, the best part hasn't even come yet. It's been a long hike. I look back to where I started and where I thought it was so hard and it's really so easy! If my journey were a mountain, the beginning spot would be flat ground with maybe one little dip that I got stuck in for a while.
Now I'm climbing near vertical surfaces.
What changed?
I suppose it's like the quote my dad always says (sometimes to my annoyance) "Things grow easier. It's not that the nature of the thing itself has changed, but our power to do so has increased."
Something like that.
I'm not sure who said it.
I believe this. As a fifteen-year-old there was no way I could do what I'm accomplishing now.
Quote on, Dad. Quote on.