GREETINGS!

Hello! My name is Joy Metzer, and I’d like to introduce myself as a way of becoming better acquainted. My journey to become an author began when I was in the seventh grade when my guidance counselor at school asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. Truthfully, no one had ever asked me that question before. Back when I was growing up, it was automatically assumed young girls would get an education, fall in love and get married, and then stay at home to raise a family. While there was nothing wrong with taking such a path, just like my main character, Jitterbug, I wanted more.

I’d always had strong opinions, and I had seemingly been blessed with the ability to communicate my thoughts into words, but I didn’t exactly know how to begin. It seemed every time I turned in an essay or report at school it came back marked up in red with grammar and spelling corrections. Therefore, I became afraid, scared I wasn’t good enough. So unfortunately I let those early dreams die away by the time I got into high school.

I wish at that time I’d had sought out someone to talk to about my fears, but so often we are even more afraid of letting others see our insecurities. We’d rather be known for what we can do, rather than risk the possibility of failure. Therefore, for many years I followed another path, and although it granted me much success, it failed to fill me up inside. True happiness felt out of reach.

It wasn’t until I suffered a devastating personal loss that I had so many emotions bouncing around inside that I had to find a way of letting them out. So I began writing a journal. I wrote about any and all kinds of subjects that mattered to me personally. I wrote about things happening in the world that I found upsetting, and about stories I found touching. I wrote about difficult emotions like depression and about methods I’d used for self-healing. I posted that journal on various blog sites as well as on social media.
 
My original thought process was that if I was writing for myself and only myself, then I couldn’t possibly make a mistake. Therefore, I didn’t experience that same kind of dreaded feeling that I didn’t measure up, but what I hadn’t anticipated was the amount of acceptance I would receive from complete strangers whose hearts and minds I’d managed to touch in a way that mattered. The reward was far greater than I could’ve imagined.

Since then, I’ve gone on to write several books including adult fiction, a personal memoire and an investigative piece. Happy Tails is my first attempt to reach out to young readers and my favorite work thus far. The youth is and always will be our future. Never underestimate your worth.
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Stay tuned for more blog posts from Joy Metzer and Jitterbug!