From Draft to Destiny: My Journey to Publishing My First Novel

When people ask how long it took me to write The Alpha’s Destiny, I usually laugh and say, “Four days and nine months.”

Here’s the truth: my first draft was absolute shit. I don’t even think of it as a real draft now—it was more like a really detailed outline that just happened to be 70,000+ words long. The story was there, sure, but the magic wasn’t. It took nearly a year of blood, sweat, tears, and edits (so many edits) to transform that mess into the book I’ll be releasing this October.

And because I like to keep things real with you—I didn’t even notice until the book was finished that I had subconsciously sprinkled Naruto themes all over my story. (Yes, my husband was the one who pointed it out. Yes, I was embarrassed. And yes, I’m also laughing about it now.)

To be fair, I’ve been a huge Naruto fan for years. I even keep it on in the background while I write, so I guess it shouldn’t have been too shocking that little pieces of that world slipped into mine. What started as “oops, I Naruto’d my own book” turned into me realizing just how much anime and other stories I love have shaped me as a writer.

But that’s part of the beauty of storytelling, isn’t it? We’re all a patchwork of the stories that raised us, the ones that lit fires in our imaginations and made us believe in impossible worlds. The Alpha’s Destiny is my own world now—a blend of werewolves, witches, shadows, and storms, but at its core, it carries little echoes of the things I’ve loved most.

So if you’re sitting on a first draft that feels awful…don’t give up. Sometimes that “shitty first draft” is just the seed. With time, patience, and a lot of hard work, it can grow into something you’re proud to share with the world.

And hey—if you accidentally write in some Naruto vibes along the way? Own it.