In the fifth grade I became convinced I was meant to be an author, but Dad said most authors don’t make enough to support themselves. My advisors in college agreed so I majored in Journalism, writing for newspapers, radio, and TV. But the desire to write a novel never left me.
Then I read an article that claimed God gave man dominion over the Earth so it was our right to use it however we wanted. I didn’t agree. Weren’t we supposed to be caretakers? I couldn’t help but wonder what God must think about us polluting the oceans, cutting down the rain forest, and driving animals to extinction. Hadn’t humans with our selfish desires proved that we were rotten at caretaking? If left to our own devices, would we destroy the world completely?
That night I dreamed that wars ravaged our world. Only ash was left and a few survivors. God was sickened and He did intervene. He sent the survivors a guide in the form of a wolf to teach them how to take care of His creation. Some of the survivors formed tribes and lived with animal companions while others lived in cities, but technology was banned.
That’s how the Kayndo series was born. And every time I slept I’d dream more. It became not just one book, but a trilogy. I used my journalism experience to research tribal cultures, weapons, hunting techniques, edible and medicinal plants, and animal behaviors, and incorporated all of that into the books. I made my characters sixteen because it was a coming of age story and in a tribal society teens make the transition to adults at a younger age than now.
I posted information on edible and medicinal plants, animal tracks and weapons on my website at terriluckey.com so homeschoolers and anyone else interested can access it. There are even some animal track games on there that can be downloaded.
The series has gotten awesome reviews. Adults and kids from the ages of ten and above had raved about them. A grandmother told me it was hard for her to find books that her grandson likes, but he loved these. Another set of home school-parents told me their son loved my books so much they had to literally pry them from his hands. I sure loved writing them, and it thrills me that people are enjoying reading them. I’m so glad I didn’t let the naysayers stop me. And I feel very blessed that God kept inspiring me through my dreams to keep writing. There is a great satisfaction in fulfilling the purpose I feel that I was meant to—I was called to write.
Check out Terri Luckey’s website at http://www.terriluckey.com/ and her books on Amazon: https://authorcentral.amazon.com/gp/books
