I didn’t sit down one day and decide to become an author. I started writing again after I had my son because it was the only way I knew how to quiet some of the noise in my head. I was simply trying to understand myself in a new phase of life. When I began writing Wyatt in the Wyld: My Wyld Heart Knows, I thought I was creating something meaningful for Wyatt. A story he could grow up with and return to when he needed it most. I didn’t realize the words I was writing would work on me too. The lines I wrote for him became reminders for myself. “Each day’s a gift, I’ll just ride the wave.” “I won’t get it perfect and that’s okay, tomorrow’s a fresh start in every way.” “No matter what happens, I take my time, learning and growing, this heart is mine.” Simple, rhythmic, repeatable words that stay with you. For a long time I wondered why I couldn’t create sleek, minimal art like I saw everywhere else. Whenever I tried, it took hours and felt forced. I almost didn’t publish my first book because I was trying to make it perfect and “right.” Then I realized real life is messy and very layered. We tape, stitch, weave, and glue pieces of ourselves together as we go. My art reflects that. My writing does too. If I over edit or over polish, it loses its heartbeat. I let the ideas come, then shape them with intention rather than perfection. (Which means sometimes I put a period where a comma should go. Or spell words wrong on purpose...that's my wyld:) The Wyld is untamed, evolving, and alive. Just like us. Wyatt in the Wyld is about connecting to our own wyld, mind, body, spirit. But it's also connecting with the wyld around us and the wyld in other beings. My books may sit on a children’s shelf, but they are just as much for the adults reading because being a grown up doesn’t mean we stop growing. We are the example for the next generations, and we can’t assume they know what we know because when we do that… well you know what happens... ;) That’s why I have come to believe authors carry a quiet responsibility. We are the timekeepers, the scribes, and the stories we tell and share become lenses. The phrases we write become words people repeat. We can help shape how others see themselves and the world. We are all contributing to the same evolving story. Stay curious. Stay kind. Stay Wyld. Adeline Louise