Author bio:
As a kid, I was a math and science geek, and while I had a big imagination I didn't really foster it. I was also very much into video games and dreamed of one day becoming a game developer.
I went to college and got a computer engineering degree, and I'm still a math and science geek. But I came to the realization that the video games I loved most were the ones that drew me into a compelling story. I also realized that seriously pursuing game development was a mountain I wasn't all that excited to climb.
So, in 2010, looking for a new challenge and creative outlet, I found NaNoWriMo. Writing fifty thousand words in a month sounded crazy considering I'd never taken on any serious creative writing before, but I thought, "What the heck?" A story idea hit me a week and a half into October, and I ran with it.
That November I discovered that I am a writer. Sure, the story ended up having major plot issues, but the fact is that I wrote an entire story! And I found a drive, a passion for something I never knew I had.
Since then I've worked off and on on that first novel, but it's still "in the drawer" for the time being. I've completed another draft (during NaNoWriMo 2011 and Camp NaNo June 2012) that is much better and that I'm currently working on revising. I had a short story selected for publication in an anthology and another that won a writing contest. I've gone to writers conferences and made lots of new friends.
All in all, it's been a great ride so far, and the best is yet to come! Good luck to all my fellow wrimos as we embark on yet another journey together.
