Nicole Scurfield

My first memory of being inspired to write takes me back to the age of six. My aunt Debra was working on a short story for her high school English class. She asked me if I wanted to hear the story on which she was working. The opening lines of the story went something like this: “There once was a dog named Skawkey. Skawkey was a good ole dog. He was just so darn ugly”! Those two opening lines sent me into a laughing frenzy! It was the best thing that I had ever heard in my six-year-old life! I was in awe and was amazed at the story that she had created. That moment was the beginning of my creative awakening. When I was about 8 years old, I came home from school with a pamphlet and order form for a book collection by the name of Sweet Pickles Books.

My teacher had been reading the books in class. I absolutely loved the fact that the characters in the books were all animals but lived like humans. I gave the order form to my mother and asked if we could order the books. My mother said that she would look at it later and would let me know if we could order the books; later turned into three or four weeks. I had completely forgotten about the books.

One Saturday afternoon, there was a knock at the door; my brothers, sister, and myself all ran to peep out of the window to see who was at the door. My daddy opened the door and there stood the mailman, requesting a signature for delivery. With his arms stretched high to read where the package had come from, my daddy held the package to the light; he told us that the package was for my mother. My mother entered the room, and my dad handed her the package. She took the package, read the label, and passed it to me! I ripped the package open and to my surprise, there were five Sweet Pickles books!

When I was in the fourth grade, every Tuesday after lunch, my teacher Ms. Dillingham would walk the class down the hall to the library. Once in the library, we would browse the books for something to sit and read. We also had the option to check out a book and take it home for the week. One Tuesday while browsing in the library, I came across a book cover that had a young girl on the front cover; she looked like me. The title of the book piqued my interest…. Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor. I checked the book out. I fell in love with the characters. They looked like me, talked like me, the Logans’ were family. After finishing the book, the hunt was on! I was anxious to find more authors and books that were relatable. The hunt led me to Maya Angelou, as well as many other authors.

Currently, the hunt has led me to write my own Children’s Book series. The series follows the day-to-day life of 7-year-old Reign and her friends as they work together to find creative ways to navigate through the challenges that life brings their way.