First Love and/or Heartbreak featuring David Berger

      Who would have ever thought that writing about the Smurfs would be my first love? When my sister and I were little kids, we used to play with her Smurf figures, creating storylines for Smurfette, Brainy Smurf, Papa Smurf, and even the villain, Gargamel. I’m not sure what it was about those blue gnome-like creatures, but we entertained ourselves for hours. I think it was my idea to write down the stories we came up with, but I knew that when I did, I felt like I could do anything. This was one of the first writing projects I ever did, and it was empowering. I remember reading them aloud to my sister repeatedly, and then she would come up with new ideas for stories. Writing these stories took place long before I fell in love with Greek mythology, so I created elaborate stories where the Smurfs met other creatures. Notebook after notebook lay stacked on my floor from these stories, and I’m kicking myself now because who knows what treasures I could have today. That was most assuredly my first love.

      As an adult writer, I feel like we get an Etch-A-Sketch moment, so that “first” for me would have to be my first novel, Task Force: Gaea—Finding Balance. Now, technically, that started as a high school short story, but I reworked it over the decades into a seminal piece of literature and published it in 2012. This was my first lengthy work that was (and is) a part of who I am. Like most first loves, you have your ups and downs, your times when you want to walk away, and then there are the times when you just don’t want to eat, shower, or even use the restroom because you’re so enmeshed in what you’re writing and don’t want to be apart. You always remember your first love, or so the saying goes. I’ve devoted my soul to mine, and it’s come a long way from writing about little blue creatures that live in mushrooms. It’s hard to imagine putting so much energy into something simply for the love of it, but I guess that’s what parents do for their children. Both of my first loves have left an indelible mark on me, and I wear those marks proudly, like badges of honor.