Because I am a writer, it may surprise some to hear that at first, I didn’t like to read as a young child. But after much effort on my mother and grandmothers part to help find my interests in books, that quickly turned into a passion for reading, mostly stories that had a bit of danger and adventure to them, as well as a bit of fantasy.
Fast forward into my high school years, I had come across countless stories, tales of the human condition. Whether it had a happy ending or not, it didn’t matter to me. I ate it up and read to my heart’s desire, only to get lost in the pages. During that time, I can remember finding a fantasy series that I absolutely fell in love with. It was then that my enjoyment for that genre blossomed into a wonder I still have to this day and cannot seem to shake. With my deep plunge into that series, I enjoyed and found wonder in the genre. Because of that wonder, I would often create stories in my head, and play them out like I was watching a movie reel.
Even in my moments of daydreaming, I was a studious in my schooling. This dedication to my studies continued on through college, when I attended the University of Michigan. In there, like many college students, you go through the rigorous challenge of finding you path in life, what you want your career to be. Going to school, I originally had the intention of becoming a doctor, but that didn’t last long, chemistry and calculus got into the way of that.
In that door closing, another opened to me, psychology. Even younger, I was fascinated by the mind, essentially, how and why we become the way we are. I analyzed to death and still do, watching T. V. or a movie, thinking extensively, instead of just quietly enjoying the show. My curiosities of man’s thinking even touched on my readings. But I couldn’t just stay silent in my head; I always had to know why; why did they do that, or why didn’t they do this? It compelled my thinking.
So, towards the end of my college career, and many papers from personality to disorder were written, a new door was presented to me. Writing. It opened the door and I walked in.
I would be lying if I didn’t say I was scared to go through that door and follow my dream. Much like everyone else, I am afraid of failure, but I have come to realize that with passion, it’s worth it. All the rewrites, all the sleepless nights, and the writer’s block that we as writers come to face, I love. I cannot picture doing anything else, but creating characters that are imperfectly perfect, dwelling in their darkness as everyone else does each day. That’s where the beauty lies in a story, in the character, what I wanted to bare light in of Flesh and Blush, the unspoken truth in the words.
There are the dark things in life we all experience, these are what mold us, shape us as adults into the person we are today. Without it, the person we see in the mirror would be very different, a stranger looking back at us. It is ultimately our humanity we get from the darkness, our shared pain, and triumph living through it; that is our light at the end of the tunnel, and it is our choice to walk into it, if we want.
Best Wishes,
Jennifer A. Buccilli