My name is Ariane. I always loved writing in elementary and high school. The other students groaned whenever a writing project was introduced, but I always liked them. I also loved music when growing up. 

When I was ten, just starting fifth grade, I was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor. It was called papillary brain tumor of the pineal region. I had to have three surgeries, a lumbar puncture, and thirty treatments of radiation to treat it. We decided to give the tumor a nickname to make it less daunting. So, my family and I called it a badguy. After waking from my third surgery, I started singing DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love by Usher. The doctors were speechless because it had been an eight-hour procedure. But my family was relieved and actually laughing at how I was awake and singing. People would call me Ariane the Singing Girl and The Super Trooper. I even wrote a song called Bye Bye Badguy. This is not at all a coincidence; I always have songs in my head.

In the three years that followed, I went back to school in the town we moved in. I kept my passion close by continuing to write songs to help people. But one of the side effects that came with the brain tumor and surgeries is that my short-term memory is very bad. Plus, I am over sensitive with stress. The teachers didn’t quite understand that sometimes I needed a bit of extra help. After I finished my eighth grade, my parents suggested homeschooling. They told me I wouldn’t need to rush with any school work and that I could go at my own pace. I said sure. Let’s give that a try. 

So, I was homeschooled for my last four years of high school, since my parents believed I could be more creative that way. I focused more on the things that mattered most to me. Music was one thing. I took a course on songwriting and composing in the ninth grade. In tenth grade, I wanted to write a story in the fantasy genre for a project. I had asked one of my friends if he had an idea what could be the main character’s name. He told me, “Write a story about a guy named Jason.” I started searching for a title just to get me started on ideas. I don’t know why, but the name Night Hunters sort of popped into my head, and I began building around my main character. They live in the village of Alton in Oscana one of three territories of Anaira. The way I found the name for the continent, Anaira is pretty interesting. If you take my first name and spell it backwards, it writes Enaira. I liked the way it sounded, but I decided to write it like Anaira. 

During the years 2012 through 2018, I attended camps for kids with cancer: Camp Oochigeas and Camp Trillium. I told one of my friends about The Night Hunters stories I was planning to write. She asked if I needed help editing them, since she also liked writing in her spare time. She gave a lot of tips about world building. When I saw her next at camp  she asked me, Where does the magic in your story come from? I realized that I didn’t have an explanation or rules for who are allowed magic in the world I created. So, we continued working on ideas while at camp. I decided that Anaira could have more than one region. Oscana, where the Night hunters live; Ebdom, a region with a more rocky landscape; and lastly, Esmary, with niles and red deserts. I decided I wanted to write three series in all. One for each region. 

I am planning to publish my books on Amazon and Kobo. The first two Night Hunters are on Wattpad as a sneak peak.

Editor’s note: This is Ariane’s first post with us at the Spoonie Authors Network. Let’s give her a warm welcome in the comments!

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