Introduction of The Beginning of Knowledge. In a series of videos, Leilani Ronae shares how her life influenced her debut novel.
One of the experiences that influenced the story behind The Beginning of Knowledge was the loss of my brother, Roger. When he was hit by a car, I was devastated. He was everything to me: my best friend, my brother, my protector. Like Jessi, I was very shy. I felt uncomfortable in my own skin. Roger helped me through life. When he was gone, I didn't know how I would survive. So, using my love of writing, I used my pain to bring the characters to life. And through my stories, Roger lives on. I know that there is an afterlife and wonder what he thinks of The Beginning of Knowledge.
One of the experiences from my life that influenced The Beginning of Knowledge is the abuse that my oldest half sister inflicted on me and my brother. She was very mean and confused from the teaching of her mother. Our father did the best her could when he came to his oldest daughter. My parents tried to shield us from her venom, but she had her ways to get to us. There was once that she punished me and my brother by puncturing our eardrums with a nail. The damage wasn't bad enough to cause deafness, but I had problems with ear infections throughout my youth. She also told us that my mom had died during surgery. The trauma lasted long into my life. The day she left our lives for good was a good day.
One of my experiences that I used in The Beginning of Knowledge was my sensitivity to the unknown. When I was a child, I had seen a dark hooded figure in my room when I was about 9 years old. He spoke to me and I was very afraid. It was that experience that led into other sightings of ghosts and shadows. Being a child, I told no one for a long time what I had seen.
As time went by, I saw ghosts, one of which was my brother. I was never afraid of the ghosts, only the shadows because they always appeared threatening. My ability has never gone away. I still see the shadows and the ghosts. But thankfully I have never seen the dark hooded figure since then.
If you see things, don't be afraid of it. You have a great gift.