Guest Blog Post with Erin Rhew

Erin's going to tell us about her long love affair with the written word. Check it out! /S.
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I think I have always been drawn to the written word. My parents and grandparents say I started talking way earlier than most children (and haven’t stopped). One day, I wandered around my grandparent’s house and stumbled across a copy of Morris The Moose Goes To School. I studied the book intently for a while and then read it to my grandmother, only tripping over the word “alphabet.” From that moment on, I read all the time, whatever I could find. Books took me to places I could never go in reality. By the sixth grade, I started volunteering in the library. My single mother worked long hours, so I spent my time after school completing my volunteer work then holing up in a corner with a book until my mom came to get me.



In terms of writing, I wrote my first poem at the age of four. My grandparents own a car dealership, so I composed silly rhyming prose that included “A Honda for Fonda.” Um….yeah, not my best work. However, my family made a huge deal about it, and the attention hog inside me squealed with delight at the power of my words. I began writing for fun and, by middle school, had a gaggle of girls chomping at the bit for the next chapter in my latest tale.

In high school and college, I received the opportunity to bring the written word to life through acting. What a perfect combination—words and stardom! LOL! So, I threw myself into acting, eventually becoming the director of an acting group. I even got to write plays and watch them performed by talented people. For a good while, my creative life existed solely in that realm.

That chapter came to a close, as all good things do, but I still yearned to flex my artistic muscle. I turned back to my first love—words. One day, the idea for a story hit me like Zeus’ lightning bolt (gotta find a way to work in Percy Jackson). I wrote non-stop, breathing life into a story I named The Prophecy.

When my friends read and loved it, I decided to give publication a try. I read all the information I could find about the process and tried to steel myself for the inevitable rejections. Let me tell you, I received plenty of them but also a lot of excellent feedback and praise. My family and friends stepped in to encourage and lift me up on the days when I felt discouraged. I would not be where I am today without them.

The day I received my publication contract, I had gone to get my cat some food at the pet store. My phone dinged to notify me of an incoming email, so I gave it a cursory glance. The email’s title said The Prophecy, and my heart sank a little because I assumed the email contained a rejection. I opened it to the words, “Congratulations! We loved The Prophecy and would like to offer you a publishing contract.” I started screaming and jumping up and down…right in the middle of the pet store. I’m sure people thought I’d lost my mind! LOL!

So, that’s my story. The Prophecy is available now, and the sequel, The Outlanders, will be released this fall (2014). I hope you will read them both and engage with me on social media!

Thanks for the time, S. Usher Evans!!