I honestly don’t remember what led to the conversation, but my journey to becoming an author started one evening when I was telling my husband, David, how creating stories in my mind at bedtime helped me fall asleep.
He was intrigued and asked, “What kind of stories?”
I hesitated at first, then began to narrate one. He listened quietly from start to finish and afterwards said, “Wow! You should write a novel.”
I laughed, assuming he was joking. But he continued, “Kine, you think I’m joking? That’s a pretty good story, it’s a novel!”
I’ve always been told I’m a natural storyteller. But telling stories out loud and actually writing a novel are two very different things. Still, I never expected to discover for myself how to become an author later in life, yet that’s exactly what happened.
Learning How to Become an Author Later in Life
I started blogging in 2018 during a four-city holiday in Italy, for two reasons:
- I wanted to share visually, the beauty of the places I visited with people who might be interested in travelling there themselves.
- I realised that as technology advanced, I risked losing the simple art of writing unless I created a space to practice it regularly.
What began as a travel blog quickly expanded. I found myself writing about health, fitness, food, fashion, books, sex, children—anything that came to mind. Blogging became my training ground, unknowingly preparing me for starting a writing career later in life.
Then in 2019, everything shifted. Within weeks, I had a car accident, developed vertigo, and entered menopause. The combination left me crippled with panic attacks, anxiety and sleeplessness. I went from being someone who could sleep ten hours straight to someone who dreaded closing her eyes at night. To cope, I created my first character, a little girl, and started building her story in my mind, night after night. Scene by scene, I shaped her life and refined the characters until I had written a whole book in my head. I didn’t know at the time, that it was my path into authorship.
Why Chasing Horizons Came First
Chasing Horizons is the first book I’ve self-published, but it’s actually the third book I wrote entirely in my head while lying awake at night. I chose to publish it first simply because it was the freshest in my mind, the story I had just finished telling myself. My first-time novelist journey began not with a keyboard or pen, but in the quiet, sleepless hours of the night. Ironically, once I decided to put Chasing Horizons into novel form, the process of writing stopped being therapeutic. Instead of helping me sleep, it started keeping me awake. So now, I’ll have to find another way to drift off at night (suggestions welcome!).
Why a Pen Name?
For me, it’s simple: using a pen name gives me creative freedom. It also separates my life as a romance author from my professional identity as a health and fitness coach.
A Final Reflection
I love creating stories that warm the heart—stories of transformation, hope, growth, love, and forgiveness.
And if you’ve ever wondered how to become an author later in life, I hope my journey provides a little encouragement and inspiration for new authors who are only just beginning. Sometimes, the very challenges that keep us awake at night are the ones that lead us toward our most meaningful new beginnings.
Click here or head to nikiscott.com to download the ebook or get the paperback of Chasing Horizons.
❤️
