So, how did my journey as an author begin?

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The year is 2012, and the Fifty Shades craze has reached my school. As curious teenage girls, we wanted in on the craze, and it wasn't long before someone found a place where we could read the trilogy.

 

And that's the story of how I become a writer.

 

Well, not exactly, but it is how I found my itch for it.

 

I remember in my English exam in 2012 for creative writing, I was supposed to write a story with one of the basic topics chosen. Instead of a simple paper, I got lost in my imagination, something my then English teacher Mrs Colleen Kaplan, didn't fault me for.

 

Instead she explained that while I didn't get the marks I could've potentially received with a different setting of the paper, I should instead look into getting more of those ideas on paper that wasn't school related. She was the first person to believe I had any potential as a writer.

 

Growing up, I always loved telling stories, and I've been dubbed a drama queen for as long as I can remember. Stumbling upon the app where I guiltily indulged the Fifty Shades trilogy was a blessing I didn't even know would shape the rest of my life.

 

We read the trilogy on an app called Wattpad. It's a platform where writers, amateurs and professionals alike, get to upload their works for feedback from their audience. Readers have the opportunity to read, vote, and comment on works.

 

Long story short, once I was done with the Fifty Shades trilogy, I found myself down a hole most Wattpad readers can relate to - the Alpha werewolf hole. I was obsessed with the genre, and it wasn't long before I figured I could try and write a better story than some of the ones I'd already read.

 

And thus the true beginning of my writing career.

 

It wasn't long before I dabbled into other genres. My first popular books include The Maestri Amour, Pallid Wisteria, and my now published book Mateo Santiago. On the Wattpad app, I hit my first million reads on the first book of The Numbers Series, S.I.X.

 

But enough about that.

 

I was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa. I was baptised into the Roman Catholic faith as a baby, which saw me attending Catholic schools all throughout my schooling life until the end of high school.

 

Varsity saw me graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Financial Management. However, I didn't get to use my degree right away, instead being steered towards a career in Media Monitoring. I worked in that industry for three years, starting off as a print media scanner, and leaving as a media administrator and receptionist.

 

I finally got to put my degree to use when I worked as a Financial Planner, but that lasted two years before I left corporate and decided to pursue writing full-time.

 

Writing wasn't always something I would've seen myself doing. In fact, when I was younger, I was sure that I wanted to work in Marketing, but as with everything else in my life, that was just not the path for me.

 

Writing has become a huge part of my life. I usually joke that I've got voices in my head, but that's really what it feels like. I have so many ideas and storylines that I can only hope that I'll be able to get them all out into works people can enjoy.