Hello and Welcome!

Hi there! I'm Zoë, and welcome to my blog! In this post, I'm going to talk a little about my writing, my crafts, and my hopes for this blog.

First, about my writing!

I've been writing for as long as I can remember. Longer, really. I wrote my first stories in a wide-ruled notebook, the kind for kindergarteners with big gaps for pictures at the tops of the pages. I think I was about six. There are two completed stories in that notebook - The Bird and the Monkey and Lucy and Gorg. The third had no writing, only a title - Baylee and the Bathrobe Bandit. I wish I'd written it, because older me is intrigued, but I guess I've had problems finishing stories from the beginning.

On March 23, 2022, I started another random story. I had an idea, it bounced around, and I wrote it out, expecting to abandon it after a couple of weeks like the hundreds of other stories in my Google Docs... you know how it goes. But the project grew and continued, and three years later, The Otherfolk is my first published novel.

The Otherfolk (or TO as I often abbreviate it) is a middle-grade fantasy novel. Publishing was not easy, and that process alone took over a year. But I was determined and I figured it out, and now I want to use what I learned to encourage other authors.

Next, about my crafts!

It was Christmas of 2021 when I got my first earring-making kit from my aunt. That kit was what made me realize my fondness for handcrafting things. And I say "things" for a reason - it didn't stop at earrings, bracelets, and necklaces. Now my crafting hobbies include (but are not limited to) jewelry making, paper crafts, resin, candlemaking, crocheting, different types of flower preservation, drawing, coloring, painting, and any combinations I can find.

For a long time I've wanted to be able to share my crafts with the world, and I plan to write posts about what I know about different types of crafting, how-to posts, crocheting patterns, and whatever else I can think of.

Next, about my hopes for this blog!

My goal is to inspire other writers. Writing is hard, and it's easy to feel like you're the only one who has piles of unfinished stories and overflowing trash cans of crumpled-up ideas. The vision in my head for this little website is to show you that, as 1st Corinthians 10:13 says, "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." In other words... we're all going through the same stuff, although in different ways, and there's always a way to overcome it.

More specifically, what I'm envisioning is a collection of what I've learned about writing (and crafting). There is no strict plan; just a handful of old posts and a list of new ideas.

And lastly, a small disclaimer!

The cold, hard, here it is:

I don't know what I'm talking about.

I'm going off of what little I know and what others have taught me. I'm not a writing teacher, I don't have a degree, and I haven't even graduated from high school. But sometimes, people who seem like they know everything just don't help. I've felt this way very often - like the smart people at the top have lost touch with their past selves, forgotten how it feels to not know how to do anything, to feel completely on your own. Of course, their advice can help immensely, but sometimes you just need someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing to tell you you’re not the only one.

My vision for this blog isn't to teach you everything you need to know about writing. I'm not going to give you 10 easy steps to becoming a NYT bestseller. If you choose to stick around, I'm going to give you what a real teenage writer knows and what she doesn't, what she struggles with a little and what she struggles with more. Tag along, and let's see what we can do when we do it together.