How Writing Teen Fiction Saves My Life by Antoinette Wells

Hello, everyone! My name is Antoinette Wells. I am a published author and poet and I would like to speak with you all about my writing journey through poetry and teen-fiction. 

I've always loved writing poetry. I started writing poetry at about at about age 9. I read my first poem in front of my church congregation. The poem was titled, 'Life.' I remember that I wrote about how much I loved my family and my puppy named Buttons. How I loved my mom and her cooking and about the warm, secure feelings I had when I would spend the night at my grandmother's house. I would wake up to the smells of ham, bacon, eggs and biscuits. In that poem, I recalled how my grandmother's bed reminded me of sleeping on a cloud. 

As I got older, I continued to write poetry. I found myself writing about my experiences in life -- the good and the bad. As I would read the poetry with one of my best friend's, Naomi, I found that poetry helped me to cope with the tumultuous changes in life. Poetry also helped me come to terms with challenging situations and find workable solutions to whatever I was dealing with at the time.

The other genre of writing that I enjoy tremendously is teen-fiction. My children were big fans of R.L. Stine's Goose Bumps series. Being a conscientious parent, I watched a lot of Goose Bumps with them as well as we went as a family to purchase the books. My constant exposure to these books led me to create my own teen-fiction/YA book entitled Ankh: Conquering the Seven Deadly Sins.

This story centers on two teen-sisters who had to rise to the occasion of learning their own weaknesses and strengths on a personal level to reunite. This theme is important to me. Even though Ankh is fiction, I wanted to show a positive lesson without it sounding preachy.  I wanted to impart to young people that when you face your fears you can overcome them and any other obstacles by believing in yourself. My writing is an important part of my life and it helps me to learn life lessons on a deeper personal level. 

Sincerely, 
Antoinette Wells (aka Pandora)


About this Guest Poster:

Antoinette Wells is a lifelong resident of California. A devoted mother, she currently lives in Hayward and devotes her time to caring for her autistic son and writing poetry and short stories. Ankh is her first published book.