How I got here

My first book, Sippy and Her Adventures, is a self-published, semi-autobiographical work of microfiction. It failed to get a six-figure publishing contract and movie deal, but I wrote it when I was eight years old, and had published only one copy, so what was I expecting?

Long since the creative expressions of my childhood, I have spent decades as a communications professional, writing and editing grant proposals, newsletters, blog posts, web copy, fundraising letters, and more.

In July 2020, I started what would become my biggest creative challenge yet: shaping my late grandmother’s remarkable life story into a novel. Learn about how the idea sprouted in this post.

By fall of 2021, I was leaving my day job to pursue writing full-time while starting my own freelance business, Eliana Ink.

What is Eliana Ink?

Eliana is not a family name. In fact, I’ve never even met an “Eliana.”

When you start a new business, one of the first things you need is a name. I must have entertained a hundred possibilities for mine — everything from writing terms, to favorite literary characters, to my own characters, and more! After several disappointments — primarily, learning my favorite options were already “out there” and in use — I tossed out my running list of ideas and went back to the drawing board.

I happened to be researching something entirely different when the name Eliana caught my eye. I looked into it and had an ah-ha moment when I read the meaning behind it: “God has answered.”

The second part of my business name, Ink, is a homophone for an abbreviation that means business, but more than that, it reflects the actual work that I’m doing: writing, editing, cartooning, and all things communications.

I took a crazy leap of faith to pursue this venture, and prayed hard (and still do!) for direction.

So, what is Eliana Ink? It’s an answer, I believe, to those prayers!