Well hello there, you gorgeous thing, you! It’s been awhile. Did you miss me?

You might be thinking: ‘Well, then, spend more time here, DUMMY. It’s YOUR blog.’

And that would be fair.

Those of you who have been with me for awhile know that I started this blog initially because I was looking for connection with other like-minded folks. You know, of the super-awesome variety.

And I still am. I crave that ‘I-know-you-and-I see-you’ level of connection like I crave chocolate chip cookie dough. Which is fiercely and often.

So why the heck am I not spending more time HERE, sharing my stories and making said connections? Considering that Google gives higher priority to websites with fresh content, why am I not smashing the keys on the regular?

Friends? I have been smashing the keys, just not here on the blog.

Remember the [bold and slightly manic] proclamation I made in this post last September…

By September 1, 2021, I will have completed the first (freakin’ awesome) draft of my (freakin’ awesome) novel for (freakin’ awesome) young adults.

Well…

I did it, [she whispered]

[Clears her throat]

I wrote a novel.

YOU GUYS, I WROTE A FREAKIN’ NOVEL!

On July 26, 2021, surrounded by the dinnertime preparation chaos at my Dad’s place in the mountains of Quebec, I smashed the last key on my story.

178 pages.

69,990 words. (Yes, Dad, I will find a way to write ten more words to “really make it impressive”.)

Eleven months of consistently showing up in the wee hours of the morning have culminated in the completion of a goal that has haunted me followed me like a shadow haunted me for nearly twenty years.

So now what?

No…seriously…now what?

Since I’m kind of winging this whole ‘write a novel’ thing, I think I’m going to defer to the sage advice of Stephen King and ‘let it rest’.

I’ll tuck my pages away somewhere safe (and leave myself a post-it note so I can find them again) and mark my calendar for a date two months from now – at which time I will read my story from start to finish. In between now and that date, I will focus my attention elsewhere. As a mom, wife, teacher, and aspiring-…er…-person-with-low-body-fat, I don’t think I will struggle to find ways to use that now-vacated 4:30am morning slot. Maybe I’ll even show up here more regularly.

I know I’ll likely cringe through much of my first read-through in a couple months. And while I’ll look forward to the revisions with as much enthusiasm as I look forward to deciding what to serve my family for dinner (which is not much), I know they are a critical part of the process.

But on the other side of that process, Friends?

BETA READERS!

But I understand that some people will feel more like this:

Thanks for sticking with me through my prolonged absence, my inconsistent posts, and my general (adorable?) befuddlement. Maybe, sometime down the line, I’ll be hitting you up to read this little story I wrote…