At first glance, Cameron Crews is a beautiful, blonde girl from Texas who has a bright smile and energetic presence. You would never guess that her life has been filled with more than a fair share of heartache. So much so, she had enough inspiration to put together her debuting work “To the Monsters of My Past” (published by Xlibris). “To the Monsters of My Past” marks Cameron’s debut in the literary limelight, and the book’s success is a testament to the ongoing strength of her writing.

Cameron began writing in childhood when being the youngest kid in her family garnered her independence and her love of writing. Her recent publication is an unconventional autobiography, told in verse, and was written over the course of eight years. The story begins in her early youth, as the family unit she knew fell apart. It goes on to tackle topics such as relationship heartbreak, grief, existential crisis’, and more.

Her desire to share her work on a larger scale came following the death of her older brother Ike. “Ike was my person. He was the one who always understood me when no one else could. You don’t get many of those people. When he passed, it was like the voice of reason I’d relied on forever went radio silent. I began journaling my grief journey as a way to discuss with Ike what was going on in light of his death, to tell him how angry I was that he wasn’t around anymore, and to make sense of this crazy thing called grief I was getting a first-hand introduction to,’ Crews shares. Realizing that grief is omnipresent yet often kept private, she began sharing these entries on her blog https://cameroncrews.wordpress.com . It was the outpour of gratitude and support from the blog that pushed Cameron to publish a book.

By publishing “To the Monsters of My Past”, Cameron hopes to give words to emotions and experiences others have been through yet often go undiscussed. Strength is demonstrated through vulnerability as resilience shines from one page to the next. “If someone is touched, entertained, or comforted by my own hardships and epiphanies, then the goal of this book will be met,” the author adds. Cameron is currently writing two other novels, running a poetry Instagram (@camjcrews), and freelancing for art galleries and fashion houses. This is just the beginning of a long and successful writing career for the young writer.