Author’s
Humble Beginnings: Why I Write
Many
of you ask, “When did you first begin writing? When did you publish your first
novel? How did you know you were a writer?”
Since
childhood, I have known and believed that my writing is a gift. I also believe
every writer knows in their heart that they connect with something greater than
themselves when they spill “ink on paper” or see the words on their
computer screen take many roots and weave content page after page.
This
is my story. Please share who, what, where, why, when, and I’ll add how you
knew you were a writer. I will step out of my comfort zone and tell you in the
3rd person.
Cecilia emerged from a childhood cloaked
in dust and the rumble of tractors, seven siblings her constant companions. The
only escape was the world conjured on the pages of a faded-lined notebook.
Today, Cecilia Payne-Kat Kaelin’s stories, born from that rural idyll, grace
Amazon and Barnes & Noble, are distributed worldwide; her words echo the
resilience of a spirit that soared beyond its humble beginnings. She wouldn’t
stand out in the sleepy farming town of Western Kentucky. Just another face
lost in the sea of overalls and sun-kissed cheeks. But beneath the unassuming
exterior, dreams brewed. Not just dreams of escape but dreams of creation.
Eight years old, scribbling in the dusty backseat of a pea-green Chevy – their
trashed-out chariot. Ignoring the chaos of seven siblings, the clatter of the
factory where her mother toiled, the distant rumble of her father’s tractor.
And She
Wrote
A
flimsy notebook and a #2 pencil were her tools, the silence stolen from
the car her sanctuary. Small in stature, she held ambitions that stretched as
wide as the endless fields. At first glance, blending into the background was
her specialty. Whether lost in the crowded aisle of Walmart or walking down
Main Street, you’d never suspect the firestorm of dreams hidden within her
unassuming frame. But beneath the surface, simmered an ambition born years ago,
scribbled onto paper in the dusty backseat of a pea-green Chevy abandoned in
her family’s farming community backyard.
Escaping
Became the Goal
Eight
years old and surrounded by seven boisterous siblings, she craved a quiet
corner, her world. That’s where the #2 pencil danced across the flimsy pages of
a lined tablet, birthing stories that offered an escape from the humdrum of
reality. Her frame may have been small, but her dreams were as vast as the
endless fields her father tilled on his tractor while her mother toiled away in
the factory. As Cecilia Payne-Kat Kaelin, among her pen names, from eight years
old, scribbling in the dusty backseat of a pea-green Chevy, to a published
novelist and author weaving tales true to life, Cecilia lived the reality she
once sought to escape.
Truth
to Empower
Her stories blossomed with the hardships
she had known, each sentence echoing the whispers of “Nana, tell me
another true story.”
One such tale swirled around a monstrous
twister that uprooted giants – over fifty mighty oaks surrounding their family
home. Yet, amidst the devastation, their house stood firm, a testament to her
mother’s unwavering prayers as she paced the front room and her siblings
huddled under the bed. This “miracle,” as her mother called it,
fueled their faith and became a cornerstone of Cecilia’s narrative.
Truth to Survive
Perhaps
the most gripping story was her brush with death at the tender age of two.
Spinal meningitis threatened to steal her breath, but her mother’s love proved
more decisive. Laying atop her back through the night, she defied the doctor’s
grim prediction. Who fueled whom with more strength in that desperate vigil?
The answer remains a mystery, but Cecilia emerged, forever marked by year-long
headaches, a constant reminder of her resilience. Cecilia’s journey becomes a
tapestry woven with the threads of hardship, faith, and an unyielding spirit.
Her stories weren’t just escaping; they were testaments to the extraordinary
woven into the ordinary, whispers of courage echoing from a little girl in a
pea-green Chevy to a Nana captivating heart with every accurate tale.
Note:
My stories are my truth. Gifts are much like the stories of our lives. When
we open the gift of life, we may not always like what we receive. From hardship,
character and resilience are born within the struggles we endure. So, I write…
Anyone can rise from humble beginnings, embrace life’s wonders, and surpass their dreams. _Cecilia Payne Kat Kaelin
