First post

My first post!  What a way to start: a rainy Sunday afternoon in Boston.  Auspicious much?

Hopefully, fortune turns as I get further along in this.  What do I mean by "in this," exactly?  Two things, really: this blog, and my writing.

Start with the first -- this blog.  What is it?  It's my outlet for my life; for sharing stories, for my writing, and anything and everything else that comes to mind.  A way to keep track of my goals and note my achievements. I've had some of my friends pick up blogging back in 2004, when we were only 13, and then have their blogs sputter out.  I really hope mine doesn't turn out that way.  I want this blog to be an extension of my personal diary -- no, a substitute for my diary.  Everyone's sharing everything anyway nowadays, so why not me? Maybe a bit selfish, sure.  But what's blogging otherwise?

Moving on to the second thing: my writing.  I've been writing stories for as long as I can remember.  Actually, that's a bit of a lie.  I've been writing since the third grade, when a wonderful teacher asked everyone in class to write a fairy tale, and ended up picking mine as his favorite.  He didn't tell the other kids, of course -- but confided it in my parents.  He said I have a natural knack for writing (his exact words! and I remember them to this day), and should never stop.  So, I've kept going..

I've mostly been keeping it to myself, though.  I've never really thought about becoming an "author," or a "writer" (quotations because those goals are still so far away!), so never had the need to share with anyone or publicize my stories.  But, I'm just finishing up my second year in college, and have really started to think about careers and life goals and such other mysterious things.  And while my friends were all busy trying to get internships for the summer this year, I just kept to myself with my writing hobby.  I don't have an interest in going out and working professionally in the "real world" -- I want to keep writing forever, and I want to have time to do it.  The only way I see myself having that time, though, is by becoming a published author.

So there you have it.  That's the abbreviated history of one Sophia Sharp.  I've been working on a young adult paranormal/fantasy novel for the past few months, and think that's the one I'm going to try to get out there.  Why young adult?  Because it's what I love to read.  And why paranormal/fantasy?  Because that genre gives the greatest opportunities for creating a magical, romantic, quixotic world that I can fall in love with.

PS: and no, it's not exactly a clone of TWILIGHT, I can promise you that.  Although fans will like it, I think...