Did I always want to be an author?

Like lots of little boys, I wanted to be an astronaut when I grew up. After that, a fighter pilot—thanks Maverick. After those ships sailed, I ended up becoming a scientist. It was hard work. I earned a PhD in Physical Chemistry (the physics of chemical behavior) and worked at various places aligning laser beams, programming software, growing protein, etc. It was fun.

At some point along the way, I started playing with the idea of writing a book. The hard part was coming up with a story worth writing. I'd tried writing a page here or there in the past, but I never felt like the idea was firm enough to continue. So, I'd shelve it.

Then one day, Aleena was born (so to speak). I wrote a small portion of a story centered around a girl with magic held captive in a prison. It sparked the idea for the whole Earthborn Legacy series. Although she shares the spotlight with Ethan, Aleena was my first real character for the story along with the prison guards who morphed into the Guard.

It took me a while to settle on the genre. I went back and forth between pure science fiction and pure fantasy. Eventually, I decided to merge the two. Not a particularly popular idea, but I was writing more for myself than for an audience. It seems there are a lot of people out there that don't like combining science fiction and fantasy. That said, if it's done right, I think it's a lot of fun.

What about you? Have you always dreamed of being an auhor?