A Journey Through Time: Reflections on Beginnings and Growth
Written on
Chapter 1: The Circle of Stories
There’s a unique joy in recognizing the quirky literary symmetry that life offers. This is why, during the later revisions of my manuscript, STILL THE STARS, I began to refer to the deity of my fictional realm as "The Artist." Who else could orchestrate a life filled with such intentionally peculiar moments of wonder, if not a storyteller at heart?
What sparked my musings about life's cyclical nature this time? Surprisingly, it was a three-and-a-half-inch floppy disk from two decades ago.
I stumbled upon this disk a few years back while sifting through old boxes from my adolescence. I kept it nearby, hoping to eventually acquire a floppy disk drive to uncover the secrets of my 13-year-old writing endeavors. Labeled "Alteria — Alterian Chron. Character Files," I anticipated it contained some digital artifacts from the early development of the story that would morph into STILL THE STARS. Yesterday, I finally had the opportunity to access a floppy disk drive, and I was eager to unveil what felt like a virtual Pandora’s box.
To my delight, the disk held the genesis of my writing journey. With the help of a coworker who had the right equipment, I discovered two files—one labeled "Character Files," which appeared corrupted and was inaccessible. The other, however, was a treasure trove: a five-page text file that contained the earliest drafts of STILL THE STARS, written when I was a distracted seventh grader in math class. Ironically, the very person who assisted me in this discovery is the head of the math department, adding another layer of peculiar wonder to the experience.
This entire event has prompted deep reflection on my life and the trajectory of the past twenty years, stretching from February 2004 to now. As a three-time published author, I still feel like I’m at the beginning of my journey. To my left lies the disk that feels like my origin story, and to my right is a hardback copy of the book that took 18 years to realize. Two decades into this adventure, I don’t see myself at a final destination but rather on the brink of yet another beginning.
I trust (or at least hope) that I have many more chapters to write in my life. As I approach 33, it feels like I’m transitioning into Act II. It begs the question: do we ever truly stop starting anew? Two decades ago, I began narrating a tale that I’m still sharing. A decade ago, my inaugural blog post was titled Becoming Elayna. And here I am, still in that process—still evolving, still initiating.
I’ve celebrated the anniversary of Alteria every year on February 9th, but since I missed this significant milestone, I’m making up for it with this special post on leap day. Here’s to the next 20 years of this wild, miraculous, and sometimes chaotic Alterian journey, and to all the new beginnings and adventures that await us.
STILL THE STARS is available wherever books are sold.
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