Christina With An A

Outside of my few close friends and family, I don’t talk much to anyone about dropping out of the MFA Program. I think part of that is because I’m afraid some people will think I didn’t have “what it takes” to stick it out, or they will think that I’m just bad-mouthing the Program. On the contrary, I left the Program after much contemplation and, honestly, praying. It was not an easy or flighty choice. It was one I made to better myself as a writer. It probably wasn’t until my final year in undergrad that I decided I would apply to the MFA Program. It took me close to ten years to get my undergrad degree because I took a few years off from school to save money. Then when I got close to the end, I swore up and down I would never go back for more school. One day, that just changed. I applied and was accepted to a Program. Receiving that acceptance email was probably one of the greatest moments of my life. I had a hard time fitting in with most of the other students in my first year, ...

So when I was publishing The Dragonlord's Heir, I created a Facebook "author" page. I've since disabled it, but I can still go back and read the things I posted. Turns out I posted quite often, from sharing inspirational quotes, to sharing helpful links, to writing my own stuff.  At the moment it has retained 132 page likes. That's not very much, but at the time, I was pleased with it. It was a small audience, and they followed me regularly. That's something to be proud of, even if it is small! As I read through these old posts, I realize how my attitude has changed, and not necessarily for the better. Back then, I felt like I had the world at my feet. I believed the future was mine. The optimism and genuine passion in my words almost brings me to tears. Where is that ambitious, driven twenty-something-year-old? Where did she go? I'm glad I stumbled across these old posts. I needed it. I needed to be reminded of the passion I once had for this g...

Once upon a time, I wrote a bunch of fanfiction. Oh, who am I kidding? I still write fanfiction. I think the last one I wrote was a Final Fantasy X fanfiction a few years ago about Yuna’s father and his pilgrimage with Auron and Jecht. But anyway. I wrote fanfiction before I even knew what it was. When I was eleven years old, I wrote a twenty-something-page story about a woman named Jessica Weller who was basically a Lara Croft rip-off. I became obsessed with Tomb Raider at the ripe age of six. I thought I would become the youngest published writer ever known to mankind. I sent that masterpiece off to a handful of publishing houses in the U.S. and awaited the inevitable flood of acceptance letters. Surely, publishers would be vying for my literary work of genius. It was just a matter of time. While I waited for those letters to come in, I bought myself a handy-dandy professional leather briefcase and stored my stories, my (terrible) illustrations, and my publishing notes...