An Introduction Post

Hello there and welcome to my little corner of the internet!

If you’re new here, I’m E. G. Bella, but please, call me Bella! That’s my pen name, and at this point, I answer to it just as quickly as my given name.

Who I Am

I’m a Christian author, wife, blogger, and bookworm, obsessed with meaningful stories, family, tea, and dad jokes. And if I could somehow be an author, pianist, missionary, theatre/voice actress, and stay-at-home mom all at the same time, I absolutely would.

On April 1st, 2023 (for real – not an April Fool’s Day joke), I married the love of my life. You won’t see much of him here, as we value his privacy, but his patience, support, and advice allows me to accomplish all of this.

I’m not great at introductions, but to give you a better picture of the kind of person I am, here are some random facts…

I accepted Jesus at four years old.
I started this website in 2020 and have been blogging consistently since.
I come from a large family, with over fifty first cousins.
I was entirely homeschooled and graduated in 2020 (woot woot).
I’m an indie author.
When I was younger, I desperately wanted a horse.
Some of my favorite books tropes are grumpy (secretly soft) mentors, characters with amnesia, sunshine-y protagonists, and heroic journeys.
My favorite movies include Treasure Planet, Emperor’s New Groove, The Pirates of the Caribbean, and Lord of the Rings.
Favorite shows would be Psych and Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
I’m mildly color-blind and have trouble distinguishing between some shades of red and green.
My favorite music includes Celtic/Irish, Broadway, classical, sea shanties, and soundtracks.
I can’t have dairy or gluten.
My favorite colors are blue and yellow (the two I can reliably see!)
The first series I wrote was about Star Wars and I still love it to pieces.
My craziest writing dream would be for that series to become a show.
My favorite scents are vanilla, lavender, citrus, and spearmint.
I may be introverted but few things make me happier than getting to know new people! (hint, hint)

What I Write

I started telling stories before I could even write. My first tales were created with crayon and stapled paper, and usually included The Little Mermaid characters. As I learned to write, my stories evolved into parables and tales of pre-teen girls with horses.

When I was eleven, I wrote my first novels – parts of a Star Wars companion series that I still dream of publishing one day. I worked endlessly on those books, never really finishing them, until I was sixteen and took a novel writing course for school (the One Year Adventure Novel course, which I highly recommend).

For the course, I was required to write a new full-length novel. When brainstorming, a story idea about pirates came to mind. And the rest, as they say, is history.

That course made all the difference in my writing! After finishing the pirate novel, I wrote two more novels, three short stories, a screenplay, and several full outlines within the next couple of years. I started this website in September of 2020 and have consistently blogged here since, sharing reflections on life, writing updates, and more.

And I’ve embarked whole-heartedly on my indie author journey, now having published one “short” story, and one full-length novel – that pirate story I mentioned earlier.

In general, you can expect to find in my books clean, character-focused adventures with meaningful themes, a dash of humor, and enough twists and turns to keep you on your toes. Not all of my books are explicitly Christian (some are!), but all of them contain truth and powerful themes. You’ll never find gore, sexual material, language, or excessive violence here.

In terms of genres so far, I write historical fiction (namely pirate or medieval), dystopian, fantasy, fairytale retellings, and a little bit of contemporary. I rarely write romance, but when I do, you can be sure it’s something your kids, grandkids, or younger siblings could read.

You can find my published books here on my website and on Amazon, and there are free short stories here on my site as well. You can even sign up for my newsletter to receive a free copy of The Toymaker’s Doll!

Why I Write

I believe that stories are powerful.

Stories have the power to make us think, feel, and experience things that we may not otherwise. We have a chance to witness other perspectives and “see inside others’ heads.” They can be educational, inspiring, healing, motivational, and an escape.

They can also be used for unsavory purposes. Just as stories can portray good themes and meanings, they can spread harmful ideas and beliefs. We can be exposed to mental scenes we don’t want, and they can be extremely damaging, leaving hard-to-shake thoughts and emotions.

I’ve been reading and writing since I was very young, and have always loved stories because of where they can take us. I’ve heard it said that we can “live a thousand lives” through books, and I love that.

After my brother – and best friend – passed away when I was eleven, I clung to stories even more than before, as a means of distraction and comfort. And I found out very quickly that not all stories were helpful to me. I read a lot of things that made my life more difficult. Stories that led to some hard battles with purity and keeping my thoughts focused on what’s right, beautiful, and true.

That’s also when writing became more than just a hobby, but a passion. I spent a lot of time with my characters and story worlds, and it was extremely healing. Pressing my experiences, hurts, and questions into my stories gave me a space to explore them. And as my characters learned, so did I. God met me in those pages.

I’m passionate about stories because I believe God can use them in huge, incredible, and impactful ways. The world needs more of those stories.

I write because I want people to read my writing and know that they aren’t alone in whatever they’re facing. That there’s hope and light hidden in the darkness, and that God cares.

I write to give people an alternative to the many damaging and disturbing stories out there, and to instead point people back to the never-ending love, grace, and provision of God.

I write because I can’t imagine anything else I’d rather do.

Thank you so much for being here! I hope this quick introduction gave you a helpful glimpse into who I am, my writing, and the heart behind my writing. Feel free to explore the rest of my site for even more information and links to all of my shared works so far. I hope to see you around!

What do we have in common? If you’re a writer, what do you write, and why? If you’re a reader, what do you like to read, and why? Please share a little bit about yourself in the comments – I’d love to meet you!

E. G. Bella