By Chad Wilson, www.paranormalunderground.net

When I first started writing fiction about two years ago, and then for Paranormal Underground last year, I was very hesitant about my writing abilities. I hadn’t really written much since high school, and even then I mainly wrote for class assignments. Imagine my surprise when I tried my hand at something that, deep down, I loved to do, and others actually liked my work.

I have always had a creative spirit, but I mainly did things for my own satisfaction. I remember growing up in fantasy worlds I would create in my head — mainly for my own amusement. They were also a place for me to escape, as my mom and dad divorced when I was 11, about the time that I withdrew within myself, leading to self-esteem issues.

You see, even though people said they liked my work when I first started writing again, I still found that fact hard to believe. I chalked it up to modesty, and I think part of it was my self-esteem issues. Through the years I have known Cheryl, she has always encouraged me, has always been there with a kind word, and has been the rock upon which I anchor myself. She helped me bring out what was inside.

I have come a long way in a couple of short years. Now I have a belief in myself that I can make a difference. I can make a difference to those around me through my writing. There are emotions in words, and they can transport you as well. That is what I try to achieve in my writing. I try to take people to another world, whether it is the past, an exotic locale, or even just within them. I attempt to not only tell a story, but make them feel what I am feeling, to see what I am seeing.

I do this because I realize the worth of a short break from our lives, how it allows us to look back in retrospect and evaluate our situation. And all that began with someone telling me to believe in myself. Now I do believe in myself. With a self confidence I never knew before, now I am facing the world head on. I realize that life is what we make of it, and that my choices are mine alone. It’s a change I didn’t foresee the lifetime ago before I met Cheryl; now I can’t see being any different. And it’s all because I was told to believe in myself, and it has made a world of difference.