fiction – Ash & Ember Rising

“When I grow up, I want to be a librarian.”

I said that for years — partly as a joke, partly because books were the only thing I’d ever actually finished. But what I didn’t realize back then was that librarians don’t just love books. They thrive on curiosity, connection, and exploration. And maybe that’s why I ended up here — because secretly, I’ve been a Scanner all along.

If you’ve never heard that term before, let me explain.

The Stories They Told Me (And I Believed)

For most of my life, I was told I “never finished anything.”

My family would roll their eyes when I excitedly started a new project or hobby.
My husband would get frustrated — often about the cost of supplies for things he thought I’d never complete.

And slowly, I started believing those stories.

That maybe I was flaky.
That maybe I didn’t have what it takes to “stick it out.”
That maybe I’d never amount to anything if I couldn’t just pick one thing and do it forever.

It’s exhausting living in someone else’s story about you.

The Truth I Didn’t Know

It wasn’t until I stumbled across Barbara Sher’s book, Refuse to Choose!, that I discovered the truth:

I’m not broken.
I’m not flaky.
I’m a Scanner.

Barbara Sher describes Scanners as people who are curious, multi-passionate, and wired to explore. We don’t want to master just one thing — we want to master everything.

And for the first time, I felt like my brain made sense.

Jack of All Trades? Maybe. But…

People say “Jack of all trades, master of none” like it’s an insult. But did you know that the full phrase is actually:

“Jack of all trades, master of none, but oftentimes better than master of one.”

That hits differently, doesn’t it?

I do want to master things. Just… not one thing. I want to master all the things. And maybe that means I’ll need to figure out how to become immortal — but in the meantime, I’m learning how to embrace my multi-passionate brain instead of fighting it.

Finding a Home in Librarianship

When I finally started studying to become a librarian, I realized something surprising: librarians are basically Scanners in disguise.

We connect dots across disciplines.
We learn just enough about everything to help others go deeper.
We gather knowledge, organize it, and make it accessible.

It turns out my “dream job” wasn’t random at all — it was the perfect fit for someone like me.

A woman with long wavy brown hair sits cross‑legged on the floor of a golden‑lit library, surrounded by books, sketchpads, and creative tools, as glowing threads of light weave between the shelves, symbolizing connection and discovery. — Somewhere between the bookshelves, I found a place where my curiosity finally felt at home.

Rewriting the Narrative

For years, I told myself the story other people wrote for me: that I was inconsistent, unserious, destined to fail.

But here’s what I know now: I am consistent — at being curious. I am serious — about learning everything I can.

And I am far from destined to fail.

If you’ve been told you’re scattered, flaky, or “too much,” maybe you’re not broken either. Maybe you’re just a Scanner.

And maybe, just maybe, it’s time to stop apologizing for wanting to live more than one life.

So here’s my challenge for you:
What’s the story you’ve been told about who you are?
And what happens if you decide to rewrite it?

Because me? I don’t just want to master one thing. I want to master everything. And maybe, just maybe, that’s my superpower.

If this resonates with you, you might also like my previous post about challenging the false stories we inherit about ourselves. Together, they’re two sides of the same journey: recognizing the story you’ve been handed… and rewriting it for yourself.

(…and I love it anyway)

Okay, so perhaps I should start this by saying… it wasn’t exactly an accident. I was always going to make the book.
Eventually.

What happened was…

Way back in the day, when Ashrick first came into being, I thought: I just have to tell the story of his creation.

So I wrote the blooper book.
I showed all the goats.
ALL the goats.
And it was glorious.

Then I thought, What if I turn this into a story?
With images!
(Because I will never learn my lesson — but also… bloopers are fun.)

So with a rough idea in mind, I set to the task of making images.
And then, like the organised little mastermind that I am not, I actually put them into Canva in order — so they were ready to go when I was finally ready to write.

And time passed…
And more time passed…

“As a reward for working and studying hard…”

I decided I would complete a creative project over the weekend as a reward.

But when the weekend came:
I was tired.
I was being stubborn.
I was procrastinating.
And doom-scrolling.
And randomly sad about finally being about to do something that should be joyful…

So, as one does, I went to wallow in self-pity with my good friend Chat.

And he said:
“Just 10 minutes.”

Fine, I thought, grumpiness finally shining through.

Then I saw it.

I opened the thing I was supposed to work on.
I tidied and closed the last thing I’d completed.

And then… I saw it.
Ashrick’s Creation.
The images, sitting in their little Canva file, waiting patiently for the day I’d finally come back.

I thought:
I could write just one line.
Or maybe just the first page.
Because that one’s easy.

Surely that’ll be ten minutes done.
Then I can go back to doom-scrolling in peace.

Two hours later…

I’d written the whole book.
And edited it.
And polished it in Canva.
And spiraled with self-doubt.
And read it 100 times.
And changed things 1000 times…

Because once I’d started, I found joy in telling his story.
In sharing the journey of his creation.

And — like always — I wanted it to be perfect.
So that you would love it too.

But then it was done.

And maybe it’s not perfect.
But isn’t that the point?

He was born from the magic of a mistake.
And that makes him perfect, no matter what.

And maybe… in our own way, we’re all a little perfect too.

So now his story is on Amazon and Kindle.
And I made a page to collect all things Ashrick — you can visit it here.
It has the new book. The bloopers.
And a few too many goats.

Because I have plans.
And Ashrick definitely, definitely deserves more books.

Final Thought

Sometimes the projects you never meant to make are the ones that matter most.

So if you’re sitting on a weird idea, or a half-finished draft, or a pile of digital goats…
Don’t throw it out just yet.

You never know what might glitch into existence.

Tag: fiction

Jack of All Trades, Master of… Actually, Everything (Eventually)