Walt Disney once said, “All of our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” I really believe that’s true: we can make our dreams come true, if we’re willing to put in the time and effort that it takes to try. I’m living proof! And here’s why:

Do you have a favorite book series? If you do, I bet that you’ll understand just how much I love the Kingdom Keepers series, written by Ridley Pearson. Kingdom Keepers is an adventure series about a group of teenagers who become holographic hosts in the Disney parks. But they have another mission, too: they protect the parks from the Overtakers, a group of Disney villains who want to… well… take over. Throughout the books, the Keepers have tons of exciting adventures in and out of the parks, as they solve riddles, battle bad guys, and complete quests to save the Disney magic.

By now, I’m sure it’s clear why I love these books so much. So you can imagine how excited I was when Ridley Pearson announced that he was going to let fans help write the final book in the original series – Kingdom Keepers VII: The Insider. He started a website called Kingdom Keepers Insider, and every week or so, he’d post a new chapter of the book, along with polls (where fans could vote on upcoming plot points) and writing challenges (where fans could answer prompts). There were additional fan-fiction challenges, too. Fan-fiction winners would get their usernames in the upcoming book, while KK7 winners would get their actual names and their writing in it!

Are you with me so far? Well, as soon as I found out about the contests, I became determined. You see, it had been a dream of mine for years to see my name in a Kingdom Keepers book. And as an aspiring author, having my words in the book would be even better! So I got to work. I entered every single contest, putting my heart and soul—and hours of my time—into every entry, making sure that I was doing my very best. As months passed, I kept at it. I didn’t let myself get discouraged. I didn’t give up. And then, three months after the site opened, it happened. I won! Then I won again. And again! In the end, I won three KK7 challenges and so many fan-fiction challenges that I was literally banned from winning anymore! My writing appears in Chapter 13 and 18 of KK7, and my name and username are listed in the back. (What’s my username, you may ask? Adventure_Willa. But shhh—don’t tell anybody!)

And that’s not even the best part!

Ridley was so impressed with my writing that he personally asked me to co-write a Kingdom Keepers novella with him. That’s right: my favorite author—an award-winning, New York Times bestselling author, no less!—wanted to work with me. The novella, called Unforeseen, was published on Kingdom Keepers Insider. Unfortunately, the website has closed since then, so it’s not available anymore… but that doesn’t take away from the thrill of knowing that I wrote it. (If you want more information about the eBook, you can find it on my books page.)

And even better?

My KKI entries impressed an important editor at Disney Publishing, which ultimately led to my position as a writer-for-hire.

So why I am telling you all of this? A) Because I love to share the story of one of the most amazing things that has ever happened to me, and B) because I want you to know that dreams really can come true. Just try! As they say in the Kingdom Keepers books, “If you don’t take a chance, you don’t have a chance.”

Now it’s your turn. What’s your dream? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading, and never stop trying to make your dreams come true!

~Alexandra