As a landlocked Midwesterner, I love to travel. Sunflowers and cornfields are great, but the world is painted in colors beyond the golden hues of Kansas, and I want to experience every single shade.

One of my favorite periods of life was when I studied abroad in London and the idea of writing a book first sparked my interest. I was fortunate to take an author’s course where each week we read a published novel then sat down for a roundtable discussion with the author. The authors exposed everything from their writing process to the emotional, draining experience of killing off a character they loved.

It was complicated, messy, and yet, enchanting. From that moment on, I knew I wanted to be a writer. In fact, during a train ride from Paris to London my friend and I made bucket lists. Mine had ten items. The first: write a book.

I hope you stick around to hear about the others.