How Why Wish? was born from a hat full of prompts

I attended a couple of writing workshops simply because I wanted to learn how to tell stories a little better. Little did I know one of them would quietly change my life.

We each had to draw random prompts from a hat — a country, a character, colours, personalities, and other little details. At first it seemed like such a simple exercise. But somewhere between those pieces of paper, Why Wish? was born — the very first complete story I had ever written.

I went home with nothing more than a rough draft and a heart full of excitement. I kept writing, editing, dreaming, and slowly watched those pages become a story my own children fell in love with while they were still in primary school. My brother lovingly illustrated every sketch by hand, and years later, AI let me colour his beautiful illustrations — breathing fresh life into artwork that had been waiting patiently for its moment.

After winning a Print on Demand competition, Why Wish? finally became a published book. Looking back, I can see it was never really about the hat, or the prompts. It was a little girl who loved poetry, a woman who never stopped journaling, and a dream that simply refused to disappear.