About

In 12th-grade AP English Lang, the word "grit" was on our vocab list. To help us learn the meaning of "grit", my teacher had us take an online grit scoring test. I had the highest score out of my friends. I don't say this to brag but to illustrate that even back in high school, I was determined to become a published author no matter what it took.

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After high school, I spent eighteen months serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Edmonton, Canada, and didn't work on my manuscripts during that time. After that, I got married to a wonderful man, and we struggled to get through school together. Though I tried to work on my books during this time, progress was slow, and I battled with burnout and writer's block.

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When you tell people you want to write for a living, you get a variety of reactions from "I could never do that," to "Good luck living on Ramen noodles!" It's hard to motivate yourself to achieve something that so few people find valuable, but I'm here to tell you that if it's important to you, then it's worth the effort. My stories give me a voice, a purpose. Without being able to tell them, my creativity and sense of fulfillment would shrivel.

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Now, it's been years since I graduated from high school. My grittiness has fluctuated based on my life circumstances, but I have never given up on my dream of being a full-time author. Today, I am more determined than ever to achieve my goals, despite being a new mom and not owning a house.

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Whatever your dream is, you can overcome all opposition to achieve it; you just have to keep fighting.