BY NOY LEVI
Ever since I was little, I've always loved reading. Whenever my family and I would go to our local Barnes & Noble, I'd pick up a copy of the latest "Geronimo Stilton" book (Preferably the "Thea Stilton" series, but once in a while I'd check out her brother's adventures too!). Something about those books excited me. Maybe it was the thought of adventure, getting to travel the world with your closest friends, and solving mysteries. Or maybe it was just the pure fiction of it all. The way they changed every word that fits into the style of mouse or rat and went with it. I always thought that was super cool. That was when I was little, I don't really read those books now because they are catered to little kids.
Now, I find myself getting lost in the world of Old Hollywood with books like "The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo", or transported into the rock world of the seventies with "Daisy Jones & The Six." Both are by the same author, by the way. Those books show reality but place fiction on top and it's so wild to kind of see yourself somehow wander into the lives of these fictitious celebrities without knowing it. That's what's so awesome about books.
Books have always been a part of my life. I am a proud bookworm. That's why I decided to become an author. I wanted people to feel the same way I do about books, but with mine. How did I write my books, you ask?
It all started with a thought. A cluster of emotions combining to form singular inception. What if I could write a book?
Just kidding. It didn't really start out like that. I always knew I could write a book. I always knew I'd be an author, but I didn't know what to write about. That's when my first incomplete project was born. Shortly after quarantine started, I started writing a book about me helping people with their teen lives. It had over 60,000 words and 80-100 pages. I never published it. Not because it wasn't good, it just wasn't good enough. It still isn't.
Then a year later, on a trip to North Carolina, I came up with the idea of "I SWEAR I DON'T LIKE HIM." A movie about a girl who claims to not have a crush on someone she misses but actually does. I wrote part of it in script form. Then I turned it into poetry and changed up a few things and it became "la vie d'amour."
My first ever poetry collection. I was so excited to release it but I honestly didn't look through it that much and found typos when it printed out (Oops). Don't worry! I went back and changed everything. As much as I do not like "la vie d'amour" because of the amateur poetry there is inside of it, it opened a new door for me. A door into business, a door into marketing, a door into the world of being an author. And that was something A always wanted. To be an author.
Next up, a few months later, I fell in love with an era. My fourteen-year-old era. The era where I actually had friends and had events I could go to and people I could invite to parties. Before all the drifts happened. So, I decided to write about it, and "pacts & promises" was born. Who knew I would grow so attached to an era? Specifically,
one that happened a few years ago! "pacts and promises" was a blessing because it helped me grow as a person and as an author. I'm so happy that it came out. it's like my good luck charm!
I remember crying tears of joy on release day because I was just so ecstatic that this story is finally out there for people to read and relate to. I've gotten so many compliments on it saying it was "deep", "amazing" and people actually telling me they've related to it, which was my goal in the first place.
I wanted people to love my books and to relate to them just as much as I wanted to be transported into the fictitious world of 'Geronimo Stilton" when I was little. That's why I decided to become an author. That's why I love books.
So, to all those who read and for all those who are yet to pick up a book, happy belated international book day! Pick up a book and love it like you love that one person or goal you want to achieve. I promise the ending is worth it!