The Book That Started It All

photo of girl reading book

My grandmother used to sit with me when I was very little, and she’d read me stories before bed—or even at my insistent request.

I knew very quickly that I wanted to be able to read them for myself.

One day, she started reading to me The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. It didn’t have pictures, but I was enraptured nonetheless. I remember looking at the page, filled with so many words I hadn’t seen before, astounded I could still see what was happening in my mind as my grandma told me the story (my clairvoyance working for me and clearly wanting to play).

After that fateful moment, I declared to myself that I was going to learn to read this book. I was spellbound by the words and the story, and I needed to know how to read them. And I was determined to show her that I could read it by myself.

At the tender age of four, I ran to my grandmother, grabbed her hand, and said, “Grandma, grandma, come here! I want to show you something!”

And I began to read that very same book to her like she had read it to me. I finished reading the first page out loud to her before I looked up and saw tears in her eyes. I knew they were good tears. And thus began my love of books and stories. Especially those that contained a bit of magic, adventure, and fantasy.

From a love of reading grew a love of writing stories. From writing stories, my writing abilities grew and grew. From writing and gaining professional writing experience grew another skill that I would later discover is one of my absolute favorite ways to help people: editing. Making writing better. Making stories come to life. To make them shine.

Just like the ways the stories from my childhood brought me to life, I want to help bring more light and heart to your book while proofing and polishing it to inspired perfection.

What book sparked your love of reading and writing?