One Author's Journey

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Stacey fell in love with reading early in childhood. "I remember the feeling of a brand-new book in my hand. Opening it for the first time, the crisp pages and flattening the book, making my indentation. And, of course, "christening it" with a brand new bookmark! I spent almost all of my allowance on books. I loved (and still love) fictional stories and would imagine sitting in an open book and pretending it could fly like a magic carpet, taking me into the author's creative mind. I never thought much about writing a book, but that would change quickly but subtly."

Stacey attributes this privilege of being surrounded by books and writing to her third-grade teacher, who saw each student's potential and used freewriting to bring out their individuality. This particular teacher started this once timid student on the path toward authorhood. Following her move to a different school, Stacey learned Haiku (a Japanese style of poetry consisting of three lines with a 5-7-5 syllable format focusing primarily on nature) from her fifth-grade teacher. Though she didn't know it then, Stacey would soon experience her first taste as a published author when her teacher showcased her poems in the school newsletters that year. 

With the encouragement of these dedicated teachers and Stacey's aunty, who recognized her niece's talent for writing early on, this future writer set off on a path to manifesting her dream and on the way toward self-discovery. 

This journey, however, would not be an easy road and took a life-changing event (a movie called "Misery," which made her rethink writing as a career) and doubts in a thousand different shades before Stacey discovered the unique gift and potential that everyone else had seen in her since childhood. "Somehow, destiny has a way of slipping an invitation under your door, reminding you that the door you thought you closed decades earlier never fully closed. Your passion kept one foot in it the entire time, waiting for your courage to step up to the plate and take the swing."

After earning diplomas from the Institute for Children's Literature and Longridge Writers Group (renamed Institute for Writers), Stacey is a published author, creative writer, poet, entrepreneur, and dapples in art and illustrating.