What the Heck Happened?

It’s been a while since I posted here, as I’ve spent the last few years having a kid and experiencing some major disruptions in my life, including career changes for both myself and my husband.

Surprising everyone among our friends and family–most of all himself, I believe–Jeff has launched a successful career as a writer. He has published four novels and two novellas, with two more novels completed and waiting for publication, and a third underway.

Despite the above, I managed to find the time to finish A Sword for Chaos. Yes, the same one I was working on in 2011 when I wrote this blog–and I’d actually begun the novel four years before that. You’d think I was writing a Great American Novel, but those ten years were actually full of a lot of starts and stops–mostly stops, to be honest.

A couple of years into the process, I realized I simply wasn’t a good enough writer to tell the story I wanted to tell. So, I set about learning everything I could about craft. Plot, character arcs, tension, theme–anything and everything I could soak up. Most of my posts on this blog were inspired by this writerly journey.

At some point, I hit the mark I’d set for myself. It wasn’t some solid goal, but one day I read through what I had written (and rewritten) and realized… this is the story I wanted to tell. Could I improve as a writer? Of course, and I hope I do. But I’m happy with the novel as it is, and am excited to send it out into the world.

And you know what? That’s an awesome feeling.