As a girl growing up in a small town in Northeast Ohio, I filled my soul with facets of art: reading, storytelling, music, dance, and theater. I was never good enough to be considered great, but each piece fit together like a stained glass window, the light pouring through the shards of color. The hardest year of my adult life, when I questioned who I was and who I’d become, I could only see gray. During my forty-five minute commutes to and from work, I’d become obsessed with a new album that I listened to on repeat. I specifically recall exiting the highway and it was as if all the chips on the color palette came to life. The music, in both its gritty, rebellious rock and soft, poetic lyrics, brought about a story inside my imagination. I saw the heroine using all her strength to send a message to the authority. I felt the anguish of the hero whose heart wanted to belong to something greater than himself. I heard the hateful words of the villain intent on crushing them in his iron fist. The set stood up like a pop-up book and appeared behind the characters, tapping into those hours I spent on stage. The motion and the movement of the music came to me in ballet, with form and flexibility as the characters took shape. All my voracious reading as a young person set the foundation for the words of the story I wanted to tell. Nervously, I began writing out the ideas I’d crafted inside my silver Hyundai. In the written word, I found color and light, and most importantly, myself. When Mara and Everett were born, I was too. I first put my pen to paper in 2013 and I haven’t stopped since. Now I’m ready to share my stories with you!
I live in Akron, Ohio with my incredible husband Jason and our silly dog Georgia.
K E Hubbard 