01/14/2026 Author Notes Series: TRANSFORMATION

Transformation is another creature feature story, set in the Pacific Northwest, and most importantly, along the Pacific Northwest trail. This one is a bit different than my other stories though, as I feel like this one has a bit of a happier ending once all is said and done. Just in case you have not yet read this one, that's all I'll say about the ending.

The story focuses on a young man named Garrison. A rather horrible young man, late teens when the story opens, that spent much of his life being just awful to his mother, growing into a terribly spoiled, overweight brat that treated his mom like his servant, rather than a parent. There are reasons for his behavior that come to light later on in the story but again, going to try not to spoil it. I wanted to tell a story about redemption, about what that might look like from the perspective of someone like Garrison.

Young adult, mostly sheltered from the world, self-centered and selfish, with zero redeeming qualities. How might he change if suddenly alone in life? Would he change? and how might he go about it? Having long been interested in hiking, and in solo trips, long distance hikes and especially the Pacific Northwest Trail, I decided to use that as our main setting. Is there anything more challenging or scarier than a young teen hiking alone on such a trail? For the long thru hike, for someone that has never done a single hike in their life?

Not to mention, the vast number of hardships I could potentially put in his way as he hiked it. This pleased me in weird ways, because part of me wanted to see if he would give up. Odd statement I know, since I wrote it but many of you know that I'm a pantser, meaning I just write and see what happens. A lot of my characters tell their own stories, I'm just their voice and surprisingly, Garrison told his own story as we went along. Every challenge I threw at him; he endured and just kept going.

I'm proud of this story for the unusual direction that it took, and for the depth of reflection, emotion, and heartache that truly went into this story. At its core, it is about growth, about maturing, about realizing what it means to be an adult, and what it means to truly seek redemption. I think Garrison has a lesson that we can learn from, and if you read this story, or have read it, I hope that you got something heartfelt out of it.