Bonita McNickles Buie said she went to college because shedidn’t want to have to get married or pregnant to be able to leavehome – she wanted to do it on her own terms.

At the time she set out for Jackson State University, she didn’trealize what lay ahead, even though there had been some definiteforeshadowing leading up to that time.

“When I was 10, I lived in Monticello and I wrote an impressivebusiness letter, and my teacher told me I would end up writing,”she said.

And she did.

Buie’s first book, “Through My Sisters’ Eyes,” is now on theshelves. She said there are parts that are based on therelationship she had as the second in a family of threesisters.

“It’s based on parts of my life,” she said. “Some parts aretrue, and some are not.”

The book details the lives of an oldest and youngest sisterwhose sibling rivalry escalates to adultery and ultimatelyattempted murder. The middle sister, a detective, is forced tounravel the intrigue as the plot unfolds.

But Buie said it was a long road to travel since that experiencewhen she was a 10-year-old. After she went to JSU, she went intothe military and specialized in air defense artillery. After that,she got her teaching degree in business education.

“I wasn’t happy in teaching,” she said. “I believe it’s soimportant to enjoy your work or you either won’t do it well oryou’ll complain all the time. That’s when God brought back thesubject of writing.”

And it took 10 years to finish “Through My Sisters’ Eyes,” Buiesaid. She dedicated the book to her former employer, Houston Case,who always told her to follow that dream.

“He encouraged me to write,” she said. “He asked me every day ifI’d finished the book yet.”

The next Buie-penned books are coming much quicker.

“When I got to writing, I just kept on,” she said.

Her next book, entitled, “How I Got Over,” will come out in2011, and “The Guardian Angel” will publish in 2012.

What Buie has found to be the best part of being an author,however, is not so much having her name on the front of the bookand seeing it on the shelves. It’s the fulfillment that comes fromdoing what she loves.

“Since I’m writing, I feel at peace, I’m happy, I’m free,” shesaid. “That happiness comes from knowing God and what He wants forme. This is my destiny.”

Buie lives in Brookhaven with her husband Jonathan Buie. Theyhave two children, Rasheena Buie, 23, and Jonathan Buie Jr.,19.

“I just encourage everyone to find out your purpose in life,”Buie said. “If you serve Him, He’ll take you places you neverthought you’d go.”