Author Bio- Aslan-Jade Erwin
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Welcome,
Aslan Erwin is a Professional Writing student at Algonquin College, as well as an author and poet outside of school. She prides herself on creativity and character creation. She was born on Christmas day, making her a Capricorn. She’s written one unpublished book, and is currently working on the second in the series. Her interests other than writing include drawing, playing all kinds of video games, and music, she plays guitar, bass, and piano, as well as singing, specializing in musical theater. She’s got many fun literary works to discuss throughout her blog posts, so please stay tuned!
Understanding Reading for the First Time
Warriors into the wild cover by Erin Hunter
When I was a child, I remember one thing about my mom above all else, she loved to read. I can recall dozens of books piled up in every room, especially hers. She shared her love of reading with me whenever she got the chance, showing me book after book., it wasn’t until I was in the sixth grade that I truly understood what it meant to love reading.
I was ten years old, sitting at my desk at school, and it was about to be reading time. Our teacher brought out a huge colourful basket of all different kinds of books and placed it in the centre of the room. We all stood up and began picking through our options. I remember looking at cover after cover and kind of sighing in my head, thinking everything I picked up looked silly compared to what I had read at home. I was shuffling through one of the smaller bins our teacher had brought out when a certain cover caught my eye. Warriors it said, in bright blue letters, against a backdrop of green leafy trees, and below the title; three cats.
I took the book back to my desk and I recall feeling quite content with my choice. In a sea of picture books, and other nonsense I found the only real novel. Our teacher started the thirty-minute timer, and we all buried our noses in the books we chose.
I have been an animal lover since birth and I had a cat of my own, though at the time she was only a kitten, Persephone. She was an outdoor cat for many of her younger years, mainly because she enjoyed it, but we also lived in a safe area where it was quite common among our neighbors. I often imagined her befriending other outdoor; even stray cats, and they’d hunt and go on adventures together. So, naturally, I was delighted when that was the exact plot of the book. A small tomcat, Rusty, finds himself bored with the mundane life of being a housecat. Confined to the indoors, eating cat food and kibble left him wanting more out of life, and so despite all the warnings from the neighbor cats, he sets off on a journey away from the human world. He finds an entire society of cats settled in the forest, and they have it all, freedom, strength, resources, families, you name it. However, they weren’t the only clan in the woods. This book struck a chord with me that no other book had before.
My mom usually read herself to sleep, and now I finally had a book to join her. So, every night we’d grab our books, tea, cozy blankets and snuggle up for a nighttime adventure. Some nights would be filled with laughter and surprise, others were filled with tears, and scares. When I finally finished the first Warriors book I was in my grandmother’s car, and my mom was in the front seat. I read the last line and looked out the window as we made the turn to my house, I asked my mom, “Do you know what it feels like to have your life changed by a book?” Of course, she said yes, but not before she had a good laugh about my question. I was completely serious though.
‘Fireheart stared back without blinking. He was a warrior now. He had made an enemy of the Clan’s deputy, but Tigerclaw had made an enemy of him. Fireheart was not the same naive young cat who had joined the Clan all those moons ago. He was bigger, stronger, faster, and wiser. If he was destined to oppose Tigerclaw, then so be it. Fireheart was ready for the challenge.’
This is the ending paragraph of the first book in the series. This was the first time I felt that weight in my chest after finishing a novel. The first time a book made me think about it. I loved the writing, I loved that characters, the setting everything. It was when I realised the impact of literature for the first time, I fear I would have never become a writer had I not read that book all those years ago.
