Wait! I Wrote That? is a coming-of-age, creative nonfiction novel that combines the memoir genre with fiction. It follows the story of a young writer, Victoria Christie, and the hardships she faced to keep her island of personality—especially after the tragic death of her older brother in 2021.
Since she was a little girl, Victoria—or Vika, as her family called her—always had an enormous imagination. She used that imagination to create stories in her head.
In 4th grade, Vika's life changed, after she had something called "The Barber Shop Incident". She annoyed her mother at a barber shop, who asked the little girl to write in her school notebook to distract herself. Doing just that, Vika left that shop no longer a student but a writer. The stories in her mind went live on paper.
From the beginning, Vika struggled with self-doubt. She thought she would never become a successful author, due to her parents' harsh words: "You're never going to get anywhere with writing." But... Victoria wanted to prove them wrong. Nevertheless, that led to her becoming addicted to writing and forgetting about the most important things in her life: family, school, friends, etc. Then, the time came that she tragically lost her brother.
Done in by grief, Vika put the pen down for six months. Believing that she was the one who killed her brother and caused her family so much pain and suffering because of her addiction, she attempted to take her own life in December 2021. However, her family stopped her and said that they could not afford to lose another child. They set Vika up with a grief counselor, who recommended for her to try writing about her brother, in an attempt to lessen the pain. From that pain came a collection of old, horrific stories—a memoir called Wait! I Wrote That?.
Filled with cringey stories, creative plots, and powerful life messages, Wait! I Wrote That? was Victoria's way of turning something painful into a hidden superpower. Even as an adult, her imagination from childhood remained. She never lost it—not even after such a horrifying loss.
Seven months after her brother's death, in early 2022, Vika realized that she had finally grown up, and she gave herself a new name... Viktoria Fyodorova (her true, Russian name).
While Victoria will never forget her brother, she will also never let herself fall victim to her self-doubt and grief ever again. Her brother's legacy about her becoming a successful author remains, and she is eager to share her story with the world.
"Grief comes in waves," but always remember to ride them in before they sweep you out to sea. Don't let them destroy your island of personality. That was the lesson Vika had to learn. It's a lesson that she sewed into a dress and will never rip off.
Wait! I Wrote That? is the true story of a young woman who fought to find where her heart truly belonged—with writing.