I’ve been writing all my life. As a kid, I scribbled stories in a little notebook I kept hidden under my mattress. I was first published at the age of 12, in my father’s company’s employee publication. I won a contest showcasing my family’s Christmas traditions.

Spurred on by that success, the next year I “published” my first book about my dog Frisky – how she came to live with us, the villagers who fed her treats on her daily jaunt and the puppies she birthed (all nine of them!). My mother helped me type out the pages, and at school, we covered card stock with old wallpaper samples to create the covers.

On an exchange year abroad, I wrote columns that were published in my city’s local daily newspaper, and had a piece published in a Rotary International magazine. It was a heady experience to see my name in the bylines.

I knew I wanted to tell stories, so the natural thing to do was to study journalism in university. Instead of plying my trade at the nation’s newspapers, television or radio stations, I chose to help companies tell their stories – to showcase successes to employees at first, encouraging them to be proud of the contributions they made. Later, I helped companies tell their stories through marketing material, press releases, speeches and thought leadership.

While writing their stories helped pay the bills, I’ve always thought there was a story of my own inside me. I’ve had vivid dreams of writing it over the years (in front of a window, looking out over the sea), but it took me a long time to figure out what that story was. Another Glass of Tea is the first of what I hope are many.

How do you express your creative side? Let me know in the comments below, and don’t forget to look for Another Glass of Tea. If you like it, please leave a review.