Welcome, welcome, I’m glad you’re here.
Life can be a bit crazy and a bit hard. But we have our dreams and we have our stories. This is a place where we can come together and dream a little and think about the what ifs and the beautiful things in the world. It’s also a place to be honest about those hard bits of life because sometimes we need that. Or maybe just because weird honesty is a way I deal with a bad day. Sorry in advance.
I’m Brielle, a crafter, dreamer and writer.
I’m maybe a little crazy with a naturally cheerful nature and a little side of cynicism. At least one of my dreams is lost down a hole somewhere and the other dreams quarrel over whether I should go looking for it. Mostly I’m a little afraid that the dreams will take me into an adventure too big.
I write though, dreaming up complicated worlds, filling my head with girls who should probably work on their own problems before other peoples and guys who are kind of awkward.
I also sew, feeding my love of wearing interesting clothes, and channelling my love of fantasy into costumes. Sewing led me to drawing which I usually do badly but enjoy anyway.
How it began
I wasn’t one of those ‘wrote down stories when I was four’ writers, or even a ‘wrote all through my teen years’ writer. I kinda hated having to write. But I always had stories in my head. I lived and played stories with my little brothers. I read voraciously. I began to dream.
I had little ideas for stories and the beginnings of think I could write, but didn’t quite have enough motivation to actually do it. I did draw pictures of some of the characters though and dotted down some of the points for my Cinderella and the Seven Bears story.
The writing wasn’t really kicked off until 1) I found out that odd homeschool girls like me did write and publish fantasy books, and 2) I got a really big idea, the best idea ever. Okay, maybe not the best idea ever, but I had read an article by people who were Definitely Correct about problematic morals and what not in Disney’s Tangled and I figured I could write a story to illustrate their point.
So I did write that book and, though I had very little idea what I was doing or how to start, it was fun. It fell apart in the middle, and then I rewrote and wrote until it fell apart at the end and beginning as well and had very little to do with Tangled except that there was a girl and a mother and outlaws. More stories followed it in their own joyous chaos. Along the way I’ve changed my name three times, nearly quit twice and utterly fallen in love with the writing community. I’m not who I once was and I don’t know who I’ll become, but I’ll be here trying to make the world a little better and bring people joy.
Other stuff you might want to know
My home is in Australia, not too far from our capital city of Canberra. I can pick up most crafts, but struggle with knitting and when it comes to art, I’m not so very great. I don’t play any musical instruments because I’ve not got a great sense of rhythm, but I used to play hymns poorly on the piano.
If that wasn’t enough, I like to bake, love languages, and spend a good bit of time playing Lord of the Ring Online. I want to do all the hobbies, see all the places and be with all the people.
I also absolutely believe that this world was made by God. There’s too many wonderful things in all the mess for this to be an accident. Instead this is a story with ups and downs and the most complex world building beyond what we could imagine.
The Official Bio (If you want it)
Brielle Andela is a twenty something Australian with a love of complex fantasy worlds, fashion, and dragons. She loves stories for their characters and has far too many hobbies to finish most of her projects. Her latest writing passion is steampunk island fantasies with shades of fairytales and revolutions.