We recently connected with Steffanie Costigan and have shared our conversation below.

Steffanie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

The biggest obstacle for myself as a writer and journalist is my learning disability with dyslexia. It is something I had to learn how to deal with, especially within the writing industry what takes one writer to do something took me longer with my dyslexia. However, I have learned tools and strategies to help me work around my learning challenges.

I learned to write through so much practice, time, mistakes, and going back to school.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I want to create stories with true purpose that can actually make an impact within our society, stories that inspire and teach those who read them. I want people to feel like after reading my stories there is a lesson they take away from it and remember.

I have always held a strong passion for writing despite my severe disability with dyslexia. I am currently living in Canada, Alberta, with my husband and four children. I do journalism in hopes of continuing my passion for writing books and my dream of continuing as a journalist.

I studied creative writing and took her program in digital communications and media at Lethbridge College. I hope my writing will resonate with people and inspire those who read my writings. This novel is my life’s work as I started writing this book at the young age of 12 years old and didn’t stop until publication. If there is one thing I hope people recognize is that no matter where you come from if you work hard and give it your very all you can progress to levels you didn’t imagine you could get to.

My passion for writing started at the young age of three years old; I have also written plays and had the opportunity to direct one of my written plays, “A Stony Gaze,” in 2021, and this story is currently in the process of being published into a children’s book. The love between the two protagonist characters within this novel was strongly inspired by my own experience meeting my husband in Adelaide, Australia. If it is something I believe in, it’s love at first sight, as that is my experience.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I feel I have stories to tell that people can benefit from if they so choose to. There are values all around us and if we are not open to seeing them we can miss out on something that could really open our understanding and uplift us to great opportunities.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I have a very different understanding and view of things because of it I am often found to be someone who doesn’t fit within the cookie-cutter system. Because of this, it was hard for me to openly express myself for fear of not being accepted but I grew used to not being accepted and this has made me resilient. It has freed me in such a way that have learned to be happy with being myself even if I don’t fit in a cookie-cutter system. It’s good to change and progress but still be yourself while doing so even if you are different from others.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://landofthedragon.ca
• Instagram: @lotdSteff
• Facebook: @landofthedragon
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steffanie-costigan-a8495b283/
• Twitter: @StEfF4055
• Youtube: @StEfF4055
• Other: Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/Land-Dragon-Steffanie-M-Costigan/dp/1738004104/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3O62JIH57E5U1&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.HVI-tQsVja5Ge6cgrqnquwOtfucyKmn-yw0nS8GGKgGmKEcMkruT0Ulzn_y92sOwtvZjY-tPVGRuvSj4Ev-ygYn9tsurNPw3-w4W5luFk2bKYFsNLAGbRLb6j74fcay1YvAyq8h6bx0yfT6mwTfopgsc7O-Fn8BUE59Xam3n8EdbNKIxMSZ8G8seIWiIL9SUQVI148qClPx08gMhlm-wyoiYSCsAhq6OxdbqWGyFEAGxQQSkknZCFuFozltPXVm09S1K2hH89eZRlgikLo96tJmjzszxbZKGRHZJmWgpl8o.xqdbTmXwV1fPlL9_8oBPwVciXIhiHv382eFR97dcQHU&dib_tag=se&keywords=land+of+the+dragon&qid=1718826824&sprefix=land+of+the+dragon%2Caps%2C154&sr=8-1

Image Credits

I have permish from Alex Noad, Jarom Costigan, Steffanie Costigan, Cheyanne Tillick to use these images. All are family or close friends that have given me full rights to the photos taken.