Monday, January 5, 2009

Meet E.A. West

Hi, everyone! I’m E.A. West, a new author at The Wild Rose Press. I’m so excited and honored to be a part of White Roses in Bloom. In a future post, I’ll tell you all about my White Rosette, Dreams Do Come True, that’s coming in July. Today, however, I’ll tell you a little about my journey to becoming an author.

I’m sure you’ve all heard of countless authors who have been writing since they could hold a crayon. I’m not one of those authors. My story is a little weirder. I’ve always been a voracious reader, consuming books, magazines, and box labels when nothing else was handy. I learned to read at the ripe old age of three, and I still can’t get enough of the written word.

Storytelling is another love of mine that goes back to my childhood. I spent hours creating imaginary worlds and scenarios. Unfortunately, my friends couldn’t enjoy the stories because I couldn’t explain my imaginings well enough; I have learning disabilities in languages. I know you’re all thinking I could have written the stories down and worked to make them understandable, but there’s one problem: I hated writing. I did everything I could to avoid it most of the way through school.

Then my freshman year of high school, I took a writing class. I needed the English credit, and my parents insisted I needed to learn to write properly. I didn’t mind too much, since I had several friends in the class as well. As the class went on, I made a shocking discovery. I liked writing. It enabled me to communicate what I was thinking in a clear manner. My favorite assignments involved writing character sketches and other fiction writing.

That’s when I learned my love of books and storytelling extended into writing stories as well. During the course of high school English, I wrote my first novel. I learned a lot more about writing after I graduated, and I’m still learning new things today.

One thing that makes me like so many other authors is my current love of writing and the fact that I can’t not write. Writing is a major part of my life, and I’d go nuts if I didn’t write. My imagination still works overtime, just as it did when I was a kid, but now I have a medium that allows me to share what I’m thinking with others.

Have a blessed week!

E. A. West
Where Love and Faith Meet

2 comments:

Sharon Donovan said...

Thanks for sharing your love of writing with us, E.A. As fellow authors, we can all relate to this incredible feeling. It's in our blood! Happy New Year.

Kara Lynn Russell said...

E.A.,
Thanks for sharing about your learning difficulties. I have a 14 year old daughter with some learning issues including dyslexia. She's always had a terrific imagination and just recently she's started to write some of her story ideas down. Her confidence is not terribly strong so it will be good for her to know there are other writers who've shared her struggles.
Kara