Intro

I get ideas for stories as if I'm watching it as a movie. Scenes jump into my head and play out. If I don't start to write, I'll lose it. There's this energy that comes with it- I remember staying up late into the night when I was only 12 years old or so, because I had an idea for a story and I couldn't sleep until I had poured it all onto paper.

This story flowed through me for nearly a week. I wrote whenever I had a chance. I had to write. The character was so real to me, her life and her reactions just naturally came out as I typed. She is fictional, but not completely invented. She is the collaboration of many youth I have counseled, worked with, mentored, or met at some time.
I've tried to write this through her eyes. Like snap-shots of how she sees the world. You meet her as you meet any real person, with present-day experiences and some mundane parts of life, like school and chores. You only learn about her past as she begins to trust the reader, or when she has break-downs. She's not an ideal, she's not an example. She might make bad choices. I'm not condoning her. She's just a teenager.

I used to be really embarrassed to let people read my writing. Maybe I'm just wanting to take more chances. Maybe I'm proud enough of this that I want to share it. Either way, I'm actually posting the book to be read.
I would love your feedback in comments on the blog. Each post will probably be a chapter- or a portion of a chapter. Be honest. Be rude. Critique me. Tell me what parts you like, what you don't understand. Guess at the next chapter, suppose what she'll do. Analyze her issues. Become a character in the story. Anything will be helpful.
Also, I'm not set on the title of the story, if you have an idea, feel free to post it as a comment.

Keep reading here, as  I am going to slowly put the chapters as posts here on the blog.