Meet Meghan
Here, come in close. Have a seat, lay down your weary bones. Let me pour you some tea and tell you how it all began.
As a little girl, when people asked me what I wanted to be, I always said one thing: "Author." I was always writing, always carrying a notebook around with me wherever I went. I would go to school, and I would write. My family would go on vacation, and I would write. My dad would drive me to sports practices, and I would write. I found so much inspiration in putting words to the things I was feeling and seeing, so much catharsis in writing down the troubles weighing me down. I was an old-soul romantic in a tiny new-soul body. I had a blue notebook that was filled to the brim.
Eventually, though, that dream fell away to other things. I grew frustrated by not being able to write a whole novel (I was 11 and did no planning, so nothing surprising there.) I thought I wasn't a good enough writer. I thought no one would ever want to read poetry. I thought I thought I thought.
I grew busy. So so busy. I played sports on a million teams and sang in a million choirs and played in musicals and yearbook club and I never stopped doing everything. Sorry, Dad. You drove me around a lot back then. The writing started to slow.
I had dreams of saving the world, so I went to college and then to grad school and I poured my heart and soul into non-profit work and teaching. It felt like there was nothing left to pour into art. The notebook was lost. The writing stopped.
For years.
I tried to find the notebook, but I made peace with the likelihood that it was lost forever. Boyfriends came and went. My mother died. Heartbreak became the shadow at my side. But still, the words were jammed up inside me. Eventually, after a particularly hard few months, I felt like I had nothing left to give. I felt whisper-thin and so, so tired.
That is when I found the notebook.
It felt like kismet timing, to find this childhood relic hiding in my childhood home. I began reading through it, then typing them up so they wouldn't be lost again. I remembered how much I loved writing, and I started again. And something amazing happened.
I decided it was time to write my book.
The title Roots of a Girl came to me instantly. It was the guiding light for all of my writing. I set a goal to finish the manuscript within a year. I wrote about everything. I found beauty in everything.
I healed from everything.
And now, Roots of a Girl is ready to breathe.
This was a journey 30 years in the making. Contained within the pages are a lifetime of love, growth, heartbreak, and hope.
I hope she finds a home with you.
Mission
My Commitment to the Community
Roots of a Girl, and everything that I write and do, is always about love. For myself, for others, and for you, the reader. Giving back to the community and making a positive difference in the world is the most important thing to me.
I have worked in non-profits my whole life, everywhere from teaching in Philadelphia to building schools in the Dominican Republic to educating guests at a wildlife reserve in England. I regularly volunteer at several organizations in Philadelphia.
My entire life's work has always been, and will always be, about spreading love, kindness, and hope.
It is my dream that Meghan Hughes Writing can be a safe haven for people - that this and future works can be a source of light in the darkness, inspire love for self and others, that sales can fund donations and special community projects, and that this book can be a vehicle for positive change.
If you're inspired to join me, please consider making a donation to any of my favorite organizations, listed below, or to get involved in your own community.
International Fund for Animal Welfare