My Journey – Samantha West
Author: Samantha West
Hi loves, I hope you’re all doing really well.
I wanted to talk to you directly here about how I came to be an author, as my story may encourage you to know that something magical can truly happen to anyone at any time.
I grew up not in the most settled of homes and I moved around quite a lot. By the age of 24 I managed to buy my first home in the hope that that would finally provide me with the stability that I craved. Of course it didn’t as stability truly comes from within. It’s funny though as I do remember stepping into the kitchen in the first few days having a feeling that one day I would be an author…
Fast forward to November 2018 with me being the ripe old age of 32. I went off to Rishikesh in India to do my yoga teacher training. I had a feeling leading up to going that big changes were up ahead but I didn’t know what. Well that’s because this experience was going to transform my life.
When I arrived home just before Christmas I knew the life I was living was a lie, I was in a job I found soul destroying, paying for a house that didn’t really feel like a true home. I had to admit I just was not happy.
I decided to quit my job, sell my home and move back to India. I thought I would figure things out when I was there, and find my heart again.
In the meantime, whilst I was waiting for the house to sell, I started to write. I wrote songs at first and then over a meal one night I said to my mum, “I can’t stop writing! It’s great!”
My mum said , ”Why don’t you write a children’s book?!”
I then went on to tell my mum how I had been thinking of doing this as I tell my niece & nephew (Lily & Max) stories that I make up as I go along, whenever I see them. That first story turned out to be Flying Billy!
So the very next morning after the meal I got up and wrote Flying Billy! The next day I wrote another story and then another!
I have found my heart and it is within my writing.
And to top it all, I now have a publisher, i2i Publishing, and Flying Billy is now in the process of being illustrated!
I also teach yoga & meditation as I believe we have to keep our minds trained as well as our bodies. Plus I am about to start teaching creative writing to children. It’s all really rather magical..