Seven Unknown Writing Facts about Me

By Darvell Hunt

I got tagged for today's blog by a fellow blogger, but I thought I would take the challenge to write seven things about me as: “Seven Unknown Writing Facts about Me.” Here’s the short list:

1. I have written a total of 7 novels, none of which are published yet. An excerpt of one of them, however, placed in a short story contest and was published in the official magazine of the Association for Mormon Letters, The Irreantum, in 2006.

2. I first discovered my interest in writing in the 5th grade, when a student teacher brought a poet into class to broaden our interests. She encouraged us all to write our own poems, so I did. I fell in love with writing poetry and wrote many poems, most of which I still have. Unfortunately, I no longer have those that I wrote in the 5th grade.

3. I used to read a lot of children’s fiction up until about the seventh grade, at which point I concentrated more on schoolwork and considered fiction to be a waste of time—facts were more important than fiction to me. Throughout my high school years and beyond, I didn’t read much fiction, until after my mission, when I transitioned from writing poetry to writing fiction. I also started reading fiction again. Sadly, I write very little poetry any more.

4. The most significant change that affected my writing skill was getting a job that required a 400-Mile, 6-hour commute. I started listening to audio books and “read” a great number of books during my weekly commute. I felt that I had reached a plateau in my writing that I could not seem to overcome and was unsure if I should keep trying or quit altogether. Reading helped my writing more than any other single thing I have ever done and I continue to try to read as much as I can.

5. My grandfather wrote a lot of poetry throughout his life. I like to think a little of my writing ability was inherited from him.

6. My mother told me that I am a descendant of the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. I like to think a little of my writing ability was inherited from him.

7. One of my novels was rejected by an LDS publisher, recalled, and then rejected again. The reason they told me it was rejected was that it was too much like Harry Potter. I didn’t know that could be a bad thing. I wrote the story because my kids were enjoying Harry Potter so much and I wanted to write something they would enjoy, because they couldn't really read anything that I had written thus far. They liked it; so did I. I’m still working on finding a publisher for it.

That's it. I'm supposed to tag somebody now, but, like the chain letters I get in the mail, I'm afraid I'm going to break this one and hope it brings me good luck. Well, actually, I don't believe much in good luck. I think luck is where opportunity meets preparedness and hard work.