The tragic friendship between a young girl and an alien was the subject of my first fictional story. It was an elementary school writing assignment that filled me with an excitement I had never felt before.
The idea for that science fiction story just popped into my head. I hadn’t read much sci-fi at the time, but I had recently watched Star Wars and loved it. My go-to reading material back then was horror—especially stories by Stephen King (well, until the mid-1980s, when IT gifted me a brand-new fear of clowns).
I loved my initial idea, but I wasn’t sure if it was good enough to share, so I kept changing it. With each revision, I asked my mom for feedback. She eventually said in exasperation,
“Just write the story, Letha.”
“Just write the story, Letha.”
So I did. I sat down with notebook paper and pencil and wrote the story in one sitting. After a few rewrites, a test read to my mom and grandparents, and some edits I felt good about—it was ready for submission.
A bout of the flu delayed my teacher’s response. Oh, that first agony of waiting! Did she like it? Did she hate it?
When I finally got my story back, I stared in disbelief at the words scrawled across the top:
A++! Excellent Story!
A++! Excellent Story!
That moment changed me. Writing became more than a basic skill. It became a clue to understanding where I fit in the world.
I wonder what my younger storytelling self would’ve said if you told her it would take over 40 years for that spark to return.
In the decades since that first story, I pitched countless new ones to my mom. Each idea changed—sometimes multiple times. I jumped between genres: sci-fi, drama, action, romance, mystery. It didn’t matter. Those words—Just write the story—were her encouragement during every creative detour. She even said them in one of our last conversations before she passed in 2019. I carry them with me now, like a quiet blessing over every blank page.
So here I am. After too many years of chasing the “perfect” idea, I’m finally following my mother’s advice. I’ve carved out this little space on the Internet to share my inspirational stories and other creative ventures. I don’t know all the turns this journey will take, but I’m committed to creating and sharing as freely as I can.
If you’re a reader who loves stories that uplift and inspire, I hope mine find a home in your heart.
If you’re a fellow creative—whether you write, paint, craft, compose, or dream—I hope your visit here lights something within you. Because maybe, just maybe, you needed the reminder I did:
If you’re a fellow creative—whether you write, paint, craft, compose, or dream—I hope your visit here lights something within you. Because maybe, just maybe, you needed the reminder I did:
Do it now. Don’t wait. Just create.