Hello! If you’re here, you’re either searching for information on publishing, or…Actually, I don’t know. Maybe you want to know more about me for some reason.
I’m Arielle Fenger. I’m a mother, a writer, a security engineer, a crafter…I wear many hats. But for the purposes of this blog, I’m a writer (although I love my children dearly).
I started writing in fifth or sixth grade. The first story I remember working on was based on the images of “fairies” I found through Microsoft Word’s search and was inspired by Dreamdark, I believe. From there, I began working on bigger projects in notebooks, starting with a YA fantasy series at the end of seventh grade.
For four years, I created this enormous universe. I had a main quartet, a couple of prequels, a sequel series…I did A LOT of writing in high school. I didn’t know much about publishing, partly because I had very little exposure to the internet at that age. Which was probably good, because who knows what I would’ve sent to agents.
In eleventh grade, I started a new story, with new characters. This eventually spawned a sequel, which turned into WATER WARRIOR (you can read about it on my “Works in Progress” page). That year brought a new discovery: fanfiction.
For about three to four years, I wrote fanfiction. It was fun, it was easy, and more importantly, it generated some instant gratification. I still participated in NaNoWriMo, but once I hit 50,000 words, I rarely finished.
I stopped writing in 2018, when I dated and got engaged to my husband. It has nothing to do with that, and it has everything to do with that. I had a YA romance planned out, and I found it difficult to write romance while going through my own. The project fell to the wayside, and it was the first NaNoWriMo in five years that I didn’t even start.
Between 2019 and 2022, I worked on a bunch of other, non-writing, projects. I drew a little. I created some apps. I had a baby. There was always a reason not to write. But in December 2021, I found a random post on Facebook that sparked a story idea, and I decided I had to write it.
But I couldn’t figure out how to start the story. I had a whole world built up in my head, but I didn’t know where to begin. I gave up, and two months later, I mentioned the idea to my sister-in-law, who is a published author. She loved it, and advised me to skip the beginning and start in the middle.
That turned into FIRE MERMAID.
Between starting and finishing that book, I wrote a cute little chapter book, DEAR WITCH DIARY. I queried that one, since it was done. At the same time, I wrote a chapter book for the Orthodox Jewish world, which was quickly snapped up by a publisher, whom I still work with today.
Since then, I’ve written several books (you can see them on the “Works in Progress” page), planned a couple of graphic novels, and signed with an agent. That agent left the industry, and the agency chose not to continue with my contract, so I am back in the querying trenches!
Whew, that was a lot! If you’re still reading, thanks, and please introduce yourself in the comments!
Arielle