18 years…
3 non-published novels (practice, I daresay?)…
Too many hours (thousands?) logged in…
But, I did it.
I love Dr. Seuss. It only seems fitting that I quote him in my first blog post. But it won’t be his coveted “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” …rather it is one of his lesser-known books: “Marvin K. Mooney, Will You Please Go Now!” The time has come, and the time is now! This book, a favorite of my children when they were younger, is not the usual “you will go big places” book. Or is it?
It’s a story about a kid that needs to go to bed (or at least leave the room). He needs to get going! I love the trademark Seussical rhythm in it and the hidden message I take from it…will you please go now? Get on with it! Go for it. Just go. No excuses. I don’t care how you get there. In fact, the time had come, so he [Marvin] went. Perhaps he needed a fire lit under his bottom to get moving. Be it by foot, cow, skates, Zumble-Zay, Bumble-Boat, or by a Ga-Zoom…he finally went, and he went with a smile. That’s how I feel about my writing journey. If you dream to write and publish, it doesn’t matter how you get there. Just go. And go now. Do what it takes to get there and it may not be the way you expected, or it could be the simplest of ways (Marvin went on foot).
I’ve been writing on and off for over 18 years. With three practice novels under my belt (each one improved over the previous), number four was the magic number for me. Not that I didn’t try with the others, but perhaps my writing has matured or it just wasn’t my time yet. While venturing through college and graduate school, a career, marriage, and having children…I have spent much of those years also honing my craft, attending writing conferences and groups, filling my bookshelf with writing and grammar books, researching my fictional worlds, sending queries and manuscripts off to agents and publishers…and never giving up.
As a part-time working mom, full-time advocate for my children, and as a woman who takes on way too many tasks, how do I find time to write? If you love it, you can do it and make time for it. Like the mom who gets up at 4 a.m. so she can run daily to prepare for a big race before she has to go off to work, I carve out time in my day for writing. I definitely have days that I can spend focused, uninterrupted hours on the computer writing (and editing and researching and promoting). However, sometimes I can’t. I write at my dining room table, at the kitchen island, on the couch, at my desk…but I also write in the car, in the shower, and at the gym. In those later cases, if my time is short, I stop at the first moment (disclaimer: always wait until your car is parked at your destination!) and I jot down my ideas. I send an email to myself for later. You don’t want to lose that fleeting moment of ah-ha. You’ll be kicking yourself later. I’ve even toted some manuscript-in-progress pages on my hike up Mt. Washington so I had some reading material (with red pen in hand) while we camped in the Lakes of the Clouds hut at the top. Talk about an inspiring view! No showers and no technology, but I had my deck of cards, a notebook, and some pages to edit. If I know I’ll have some down time, I bring my work (or a book or research material) with me. Nooks and crannies are your friend as a writer. And when I am not writing, I am reading. Books on CD are my constant car companion.
My little story aside, what can you expect to read in this blog? It won’t be your straightforward author’s blog, although I will do plenty of sharing about writing and my works in progress. Plus, I'll chat about some of my favorite topics (be it Scotland, the romance genre, volcanoes [stay tuned on that one!], time travel, or autism). Just call me a Renaissance woman. It’s also not a mommy blog, but my children do inspire me, and this is a great platform to also share about certain challenges they face. The beautiful world around us arouses my daydreaming and serves well as my muse – I love to travel, hike, and take whatever mother nature (and human nature) has to offer, so you will certainly be reading about that. I welcome you to my blog! My hope is that I can share my experiences and expertise with you, so that you can get out the door as well (or just get out of bed). We can all be like Marvin and get on our way.
I never stop creating. Inspiration is everywhere. So don’t stop! Get on your way. Today could be your day.
One of my many bookshelves.