If you told elementary-school me that one day, I’d have my own published books on those very library shelves, I would’ve been thrilled. It’d be a dream come true. But high-school me wouldn’t have believed you.
I’m truly fulfilled now; teacher, librarian, author– I’ve done everything I set out to do when I was that 10-year-old writing about a gnome in New Jersey. I may be crossing the finish line later than most of the other participants in the race, but guess what? I still get a ribbon.