About Author 2

This is for the dreamers, those scared to take the next steps. For you see, I too was afraid to venture out into the unknown – to dare to hope for something grander in life than the lot I had built for myself. A safe place, of routines that allowed for comfort and security, but no space for aspiration. More so out of necessity, as we all know too well, the power of the almighty dollar is formidable, breaking down even the strongest of wills.

For me, it started earlier in life than most; at eighteen, I found myself without a formal education and pregnant. It was too late for me to realize that the man that had knocked me off my feet through kind gestures and caring nature, was no gentleman at all. Rather a person burdened by his own past and haunted by childhood trauma, that was forced upon me in ways of physical abuse.

He was arrested soon after I gave birth to our son. Before I was nineteen, I was jobless, caring for an infant, and attending court sessions to find out the fate of the father of my child. He was sentenced to three years of incarceration. The judge performed our marriage ceremony just prior to the bailiffs taking him away. I then would come to spend the next nine years of my son’s life visiting his father in one jail or another. For you see, I thought it was important for him to know his father and then in time to decide for himself what their relationship would be – it was not my decision to make.

For the next eighteen years, I worked hard to provide a stable home and environment for my son. And it paid off. I was making my way up the corporate ladder, from secretary to purchasing manager overseeing two other employees. Through this, I achieved advancements in both position and salary, while basically supporting my son on my own. What about child support, you say? Well, the judge who ordered the support must have believed in me because he thought $150.00 a month was enough. Yes, seriously. When my Ex wasn’t in jail, he was ordered to pay this insufficient amount monthly. At the time, it wasn’t even enough to cover a single week of childcare. Our son is now grown, and married, my Ex still owes back child support, that I most likely will never see.

I did remarry; my new husband decided to start his own company soon after our vows were taken. His injection molding and plastic fabrication company did well at first but took a turn when he lost his biggest client. Eventually, this took a toll on our relationship, forcing us to divorce after seven years. But we are still great friends today and he still has his business.

This entire time I stayed at one company, again afraid to go outside of my comfort zone. Until one day, when my son was sixteen. I had felt that my integrity was being questioned at work. I was extremely insulted for I feel that I am only as good as my word. If I tell you I will try to get something done, I will do my best. But if I make a promise, then I do everything within my power or even use the power of others to make it happen. So, when my actions were being scrutinized, I took it as a slight and hastily quit a job of eighteen years.      

This is the first time I dared to venture out and try something new that would hopefully bring in more income as I still had a son to support. I began looking for a job and was promised a position as an office manager but needed to take courses to become an insurance agent first in order to ensure proper processing. It made sense at the time; so, that is what I did. Unfortunately, that is not how things progressed. I did complete the training, but the promised position had been filled by the brother of the head of the agency. I was then forced to go out into the field. This did not go on for too long.

I then went back into the world of purchasing, the one I was most familiar with. Landing a job that was over thirty miles away with a print house. This might not sound like much to some, but if you live in Los Angeles, you know with the traffic, this is a commute that took over an hour each way – something I was not used to at all.

I ended up moving to be closer to the job location; while my son stayed in our old place. He was now old enough and working. For you parents with children still at home, I tell you this was great. He was set up with everything he needed; I’m the one that started over. Buying new furniture and kitchen equipment and necessities.

I was on my own for the first time, and for a while, I was really happy. I had the job of my dreams, but again, things did not work out as planned and the new company ended up closing after nine months. I was lucky that one of the vendors recognized my talents and hired me to work at his company, where I would be in charge of not only the purchasing but also his office manager.

That’s when life decided to throw me another curve ball. The economy tanked, and my employer was forced to cut back my hours. With a new part-time schedule, I found new employment with a clothing manufacturer back within the valley where my son lived. I then spent part of the week in Paramount and the other time in North Hollywood. The commute not only wore down my car, but me as well.  

My new employer noticed this and presented a proposal. She had friends that too needed assistance with their accounting. I jumped at the chance, not wanting to deal with the commute any longer. This is not something I would advise anyone. Why, you ask. Taxes! Not only did I have a W2, but now a few W9’s as well. For you see, her friends had friends of their own. Before I knew it, I had a part-time job for her and my own company providing bookkeeping services for three other companies. Oh, and I would also generate the bank reconciliations for my second husband with the plastic fabrication company.

I was working hard, but for others, not myself. I was unable to have much of a social life because I was too busy working all of the time. Then it happened. A shaking to my core, a stirring of feelings within that I didn’t remember was there. I can honestly tell you that one episode of a TV show can change your life forever.

And that’s exactly what happened. On April 17, 2011, the very first episode of Game of Thrones aired on HBO.  I proceeded to watch it every night until the next episode aired. Then rewatched episode one and two, every night until the next episode. Rinse and repeated this with the entire first season. I had never wanted a show to continue to the next season more. I was ecstatic when it was announced that the network decided to continue. I couldn’t get enough after the second season, and of course, I just had to know what was going to happen to my girl, Arya Stark.

I then read all five novels of the A Song of Ice and Fire series while awaiting season three to start. Now this isn’t something I had ever done before, prior to this I was never known to be a reader. I was in remedial reading classes in elementary school and have never attended formal writing classes in any of my studies. And history was not a subject that I enjoyed in school either; who cared what some person did over three hundred years ago or how they lived? At least, that was the train of thought in those childhood days, boy has that changed.

The one thing about this show is the power to bring people together, people you would never meet any other way. Wanting to bond with these like-minded people, I found a meet-up group that played the living card game. Friends that I have to this very day and were instrumental in creating the Yonan Bo Saga.

Again, this isn’t something I had ever done before, but I had the time of my life playing the card game. Then too of course came the plot theories within the story, one that is still yet to be completed. For me, this is where most of the change occurred. Deep diving into character backgrounds, plotlines, and world-building. I ended up writing several of my own takes on what will happen. One being twenty-two pages long, pulling dialog from four books, but I think I know who truly sent the “pink letter”.

This led me to a deeper dive into the actual world history that had inspired the author. That’s when Yonan Bo came to me. As described previously, I was in the middle of watching a documentary while house cleaning. A few misheard words caught my attention to the point that I stopped what I was doing. When I was able to figure out what happened, it was too late. There he was calling to me from one of his visions. I wrote down the name that would come to haunt me at nights with tales of another world.

I purchased a composition book and started writing down the visions he would share with me. Before I knew it, I had an entire story to tell, but needed more understanding of this new world presented to me. I then began studying subject matters that were needed to curate and tell the lives of these new people. From rock climbing to the mating habits of wolves, and The Secret Teachings of All Ages, to the herbology of North America. I tended a few online college classes regarding other subject matters, while examining different practices of religion and human nature.

I continued to write while the world and the people within grew. After three years, I was finally done with the first draft. A few family members and friends read over the material I had created and encouraged me to complete the story and publish it. A very scary thought indeed. Would other people find this story as good as I do? Would they come to love the characters and care about what happens to them as I do?  Then there was my writing to deal with, I needed help, and lots of it. The first draft was terrible in that there were no punctuation marks.  I then had to get it in shape to present it to someone that could assist with getting it to the point it is today.

Another year later, I was finally done. Then the pandemic happened. For a time, I was lost, it was very dark. Not just for me, but for many other people as well. But I guess the dark is the only place where you can find the brightest light. For me, the light came in the form of a song that was playing on repeat. I was fortunate to be able to work from home for the duration when the world had come to a stop. I had the TV on for background noise as I would complete my daily assignments. And every day, countless times this one commercial came on with the song Dynamite by BTS.  At the time, I had heard of the band’s name but knew nothing about them other than they are the biggest boy band in the world. But how could that be? I had never heard their music before, the biggest they say. So, of course, I had no choice but to see for myself.

To say that I’m not disappointed would be an understatement of magnificent magnitude. Not only was I blown away by the immense amount of talent, but they are all very handsome too. Making me wish I was thirty years younger. Since my first viewing, I have gone on to immerse myself within their discography. Which is vast for their ten years, and the range of genres is staggering. I can recite their lyrics though I do not speak Korean. Their music and dancing abilities are able to convey the deep messages within the writing. Messages of empowerment, and self-love. Their accolades are impressive, but it’s through their humility, determination, and the endless hours of practice that move and motivate me. I even have the lyrics that inspire me the most taped up at the office and here at home where I write.

Intro: O!RUL8,2? ,  By RM (Rap Monster, aka Kim Namjoon)

Nothing lasts forever, you only live once
So, live your life, not any other life
Take chances and never regret, never
Never be late to do what you wanna do right now
Because at one point of someday
Everything you did would be exactly what you will be, right?

I don’t know what it is, I’ve heard all this before, but there is something in the way RM says it, this message finally sunk in. I had to take a chance, I had to finish my first book and I had to find help. For, this is my dream. One I did not know I had before, I hadn’t allowed myself to dream of anything other than an ordinary life working one day at a time just to pay the bills.

Now I stand before you, telling you to dare, to be bold, and go after your dreams, plan, and act. Just one step every day, no matter how big or small, just one step. But it has to be every day, do something to move your dream forward. Before you know it, it will be right there within reach.