Hi, my name is N.L. LeBlanc. It's nice to meet you.

I'm eighteen years old, and I've been writing seriously for what is now seven years. I wrote my first novella at the age of eleven... and it was actually not too bad, apparently, for an eleven-year-old. My teachers started telling me I had a gift. People encouraged me to continue writing. I did continue, but not because of them. I continued because I found I couldn't do otherwise. Writing was now a part of me as important as any, just as necessary to my soul as air to my body.

I wrote my first novel at the age of thirteen. It was a huge accomplishment. It took me four months to write, which was long enough since the book only contained 120 pages. But for a thirteen-year-old, it was pretty good. After I got the manuscript corrected by my "personal editor" (read: seventh grade English teacher), I sent it off to Penguin Group Canada. Unfortunately, as I was only thirteen, I failed to quite understand concepts like hiring an agent, rewriting second, third and even fourth drafts of your manuscript, getting second opinions, sending to multiple publishing houses, etc. In my mind, I was set to become a published author! Of course, Penguin Canada did not share this viewpoint. I got my letter of refusal five months later. They said it was because they had too many manuscripts on the go already, but it was probably more along the lines of, "No offense, but this book is not that great." And looking back, it wasn't. But what's important is that even after losing this important battle, I did not retreat from the war. I kept on writing.

I lost interest in that book series I was writing and moved on to other projects. I wrote fanfiction for a while. I had a hugely successful trilogy of fics (well, hugely successful for the fandom I was writing in, anyway), which ended up being a two-parter plus one chapter of the third installment. I also had multiple other stories which didn't get off the ground as well as the former had. A lot of one-shots, too. Some did well, some didn't.

At fifteen, I got my first part-time job - at McDonald's. Work plus school meant I lost quite a bit of time for writing... but it was a sacrifice I was halfheartedly willing to make, since I needed the money. I took it easy on the writing for a while, though in the winter of that year I finally thought up a new original story. It was science fiction, like my last novel had been, and the idea enthralled me. It was my first serious original since my defeated novel, having toyed with a few quickly-dying ideas but having mostly written fanfiction since that time. Juggling work, school, friends and my new novel idea, I managed to write a part and a half before I lost interest. It was a wonderful idea, though. I still plan on finishing it someday.

Sometime after that I moved on to a new idea - this time, it was a murder mystery. I don't know how it happened, only that the inspiration came out of an RP I was doing with my friends on the forum I created in 2005. I RPed for a really long time before coming up with this new idea, since it was addictive and I pretty much couldn't stop. The one that inspired my novel was the most enthralling by far - we played with OCs and little-known canon characters which we made our own, and in doing this, we created an amazing dynamic. I still wholeheartedly miss those days. Anyway, while I was still bitten by the RP bug, I completely loathed my job at McDonald's. It was around the end of July that I decided I just couldn't do it anymore. One of my friends had just gotten a job at the bookstore in the nearby mall, so she offered to talk to her boss about me. Still miserably working at McDonald's, my sixteen-year-old self decided to go ahead and apply at the bookstore. It would be nice, I thought, to work with books and people - awesome writing motivation, you know, seeing all those published books. And besides, even if it turned out to be a mediocre job, anything was better than McDonald's at this point.

I got an interview with the manager. It seemed like a really good place to work.

"Well, now that you know what the job is all about," said the manager afterward, "I want you to give yourself a couple of hours to think about it. Call me back around four and tell me if you think you still want to work here."

So I went home, waited till four just for the sake of it, then called her. I told her I most definitely still wanted the job.

So she told me to quit my job at McDonald's, and that I was hired. She asked me when I could start, and I replied I would be ready the first week of September. I wanted to give my two weeks notice and take a couple of weeks off after that before plunging into something new.

I believe it was during my two weeks off that I thought up the idea for "What Will Be", the murder-mystery novel. It was in many ways an experiment - I'd never attempted the genre, and my chapters were also fewer and longer than usual. My first-person narrator was also of the male gender, which was a bit odd at first, but it worked out. The story progressed very rapidly, and so did the months until Christmas.

In September of 2007, I started my job at Coles Bookstore. Sure, the boss was temperamental, some of the co-workers gossiped about each other, and the vaccuum cleaner SUCKED... but I loved it there. Or rather, I love it there. I love my job. I still work with that company today.

A good job wasn't the only thing to look forward to that year. There was also the fact that after eleven years of hoping and praying and wishing and asking, I was FINALLY going to live out my lifelong dream of going to Florida. On December 18th, I would be picked up from school by my grandparents and my mother, and we would set off on a three-day road trip through the United States. Final destination? St. Petersburg, Florida. Around October, I started informing my mom that I was planning on buying a laptop so I could get a chunk of "What Will Be" done during the trip. My mom didn't protest, but the idea never got off the ground for two reasons: One, I was spending too much money on clothes at the time to be able to save up for a laptop, especially considering I was trying to save 1,500 in spending money for the trip to Florida. Two, after launching myself into NaNoWriMo 2007 with "What Will Be" in November, and failing desolately, I realized I really did not know where I was going with the novel. I needed a plan, and I needed one yesterday. Most importantly, I needed to figure out how the story ended. It was a murder mystery, after all. This was when I realized how important planning a novel was - I'd never done it before - and I spent parts of the Florida road trip trying to outline "What Will Be". As hard as I tried, though, I simply could NOT figure out the ending. You know what they say... you can't rush art. During the second day, when we stopped in Scranton, Pennsylvania at around ten o'clock at night, I guess I sort of realized "What Will Be" was a lost cause. At least, it would be until I figured out the ending. So I gave up.

Although, I was fairly depressed (and carsick) that night in the first place. I was tired enough to basically keel over at eight o'clock, but for some reason my grandfather kept insisting we had to get to Scranton. I still don't know why, but anyway, let me tell you that when we finally got to freaking Scranton two hours later, I nearly started crying with relief. Scranton seemed like pretty much the most beautiful place in the world, okay? Sounds corny, I know, but you try toughing sixteen hours straight of my grandparents' 40's country music. I guarantee that you, much like my mother and I, will be all the way off your rocker and crying over your dead iPod.

Anyhow.

Once we got back from Florida, I hit a persistent, neverending bout of writer's block. All I could seem to write during this period, for some reason, were Harry Potter fanfiction one-shots. I never posted the majority of them. The reason behind this was since Deathly Hallows came out, I'd been kind of obsessed with Harry Potter. There was one little-known character I liked in particular, because he intrigued me and had a very strange mindset. Since I've always been interested in abnormal psychology, I wondered why he was like this. It was very interesting to ponder.

The fanfiction-punctuated writer's block lasted from the end of December 2007 to April 2008. I desperately wanted to write original fiction during this time, so I tried to set up some ideas. The first idea I had never got off the ground because it wasn't very believable, and basically the only thing I liked from it was one of the characters. I thus kept the character with me and transferred him to the next idea. These were two mediocre ideas that I discarded. They both had one important thing in common - that character I liked. His name was Gabriel.

So I had a good character, but no place to put him. Great.

It was April of 2008 - you'd think I could remember the day, but I can't. All I know is that it was an evening, and that it wasn't very busy at Coles Bookstore. I was working. It was around seven o'clock. There was absolutely nothing to do. My co-worker had gone on his break, and I'm pretty sure there was a man reading something at the back of the store. That's it, that's how dead it was. Anyway, it doesn't matter. What matters is that around seven o'clock, this couple came in. I remember they both looked really tired. The woman looked sort of like a bulldog - you know, angry-looking and round in the face. The man looked a bit Irish. He was tall and lanky and had red-blond hair. She was short and plump.

I was standing beside the kiosk, where we look up books. They came up to me. She asked, rather grumpily: "Do you have any books on..." and she named something that sounded like the name of a mental illness. I looked it up for her, but we didn't have anything in the store.

"They're supposed to have these two over at Chapters, though," I said, "if you wanted to look over there."

So they left, apparently going to Chapters.

Shoot, I forgot to give them one of those Out-Of-Stock fifteen percent off coupons.

I forgot about that for a few days. But for some reason, that search query was nagging me. It had sounded like the name of a mental illness, and like I said, I'm interested in abnormal psychology. I was really very curious about it.

So I looked it up on Wikipedia.

Now, you know that character from Harry Potter I was talking about earlier, who had the bizarre mindset? Well, it just so happens that as I was reading about this mental disorder on Wikipedia, I started thinking, "Well, I'll be damned. This describes that guy to a tee!" After a few days of pondering this, I started writing another fanfiction - based on the idea that this character actually suffered from the mental illness that couple had asked me to look up. I didn't post this fanfiction, but I found I truly enjoyed writing it. I shared it with some of my friends, who called it "brilliant". Though it's probably just what they were saying because they were my friends, I did feel that this idea could really go somewhere. It was a wonderful author-story fit.

And I started thinking, "Well... it's just too bad it's a fanfiction."

It was in the middle of May that I started toying with the idea of creating an original work sort of "based" on this fanfiction. I talked to some of my friends about it, to my mom as well, and they all told me to go for it... but I didn't know. In was only on June 7th of 2008 that I half-seriously decided, "Here goes nothing!" and created a vague outline for "Life in Black and White".

It was a psychological drama. Its protagonist was Gabriel, my character from those other two stories. Its setting was in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It seemed like a pretty good start.

It started out somewhat similar to the fanfiction. Same premise, same vague development... but as I moved on, created more characters, planned, and started writing, it took on a life of its own. The two works became unrecognizable, both with only their main topic (the mental illness) to hold them together.

And this story was different than all the others before it. It's not something I can explain. They say that, much like in love, in a writer's life there comes a moment where they find their perfect story - their figurative "soulmate", if you will. When that time comes, you can't explain why... you just know.

I just know.

And it's so funny how life works sometimes. Had I not been working that night, had I not gotten the job at Coles, had I not given up hope on my other original stories, had I not been refused publication of my first novel, had I not found my true love for writing...

"Life in Black and White" might never have existed.

Who knows where I'd now be?

But it did happen that way. It's called destiny, I guess. I started my novel in June, and it's been a year and nearly four months since. So far I've written one complete part, part of another; 40 chapters, and just over 200,000 words. My novel also helped me win NaNoWriMo 2008.

It did happen. After seven years, I've found the idea that's become as much a part of me as writing itself. And now I am here.

I joined this site in hopes to speak with other writers, perhaps more experienced than I am, perhaps not. To share knowledge and ideas. To help, and also to learn. I believe that there is still much for me to learn, and that in the world of writing, one can never stop learning.

I will not post my novel here, since I want to get it published after I'm done. I will post some side projects I may make in the future (short stories, poetry...), but like I said I'm mostly here to chat, learn, read, and help in any way I can. If you want to talk about writing, I would be delighted to chat with you. Don't hesitate to email.

With that said, I'm not going to tell you my hair color, my eye color, or what my favorite movies are. Those things are not important. What's important is what is above. They are my most treasured memories, and the steps of my journey thus far. You want me to write you a biography? You want to get to know me? What's above is all you need. Read it, and you'll know the essentials of who I am.

Know this, and only then can you can begin to know me.

It was very nice to meet you.

February 28th, 2009 - My general chat forum, The Lounge, is now open! Please join us: http://thelounge101.11.forumer.com . It's a general forum with emphasis on arts and culture, and with a section just for writers!

September 23rd, 2009 - If you have Facebook, please join this group and help us bring awareness to a severe mental illness: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=100174976965&ref=ts

For NaNoWriMo 2009, I will be working on a new collection of prose (short stories and narratives). In November, stay tuned for installments of Keyword: Stories, posted exclusively on FictionPress.