I've probably bored you all before with the way I came to finally trying to put the books running through my head down on paper, but here goes again. Writing and reading have always been two things I am passionate about. I thought about a life in the halls of an English department but changed my mind as a young person does while in college.
Actually I changed my mind multiple times about a major.
I ended up in the School of Business at East Carolina University and enjoyed an average
college career while learning a lot. Loved my Business Law professor and enjoyed working for the Head of the Finance Dept. During my last year of college I did meet the love of my life and as we are want to do, my career plans changed. They probably would be on this path anyway, but we can not look back and change things. Needless to say that falling head over heels was the best thing I have ever done. My husband and I have been married for 30+ years and I still wonder at my good fortune, or as my husband occasionally reminds me, my choice in becoming "The Luckiest Girl in the World".
When our daughter was born, I began telling her stories of different adventures and magical dogs that protected her at night while she slept. We would read and take adventures in our heads when possible. I always meant to write them down and have my little brother illustrate them as he is quite the artist. Time passes and I loved being a wife and mother and PTA President among other things. We moved around and I was lucky enough to make some wonderful friends along the way. When we decided to start our own business and move back to North Carolina, we plunged head-first off the mountain of faith. That decision was one of the best ones we have ever made. My mom was sick at the time and my husband's mom was not getting any younger. We were lucky enough to be close and share irreplaceable memories with my Dad and my mother-in-law. We still have my mother-in-law going strong at 90. She is valiantly fighting a losing battle with Alzheimer's, but we are lucky to enjoy the time we have left with her. We love owning our own company and staying put in one place - our beloved North Carolina.
When I turned 50, my book club read a book about bucket lists and we all brought in our top three things we wanted to do in the time we had remaining in our lives.
"The Next Thing on My List" by Jill Smolinski helped my to realize that time was short. That sweet book put me on my current path. You could die at 28 or 38 or 50! I needed to start doing those things I had been waiting to do when I had time. That same week, while eating at Pei Wei, my fortune cookie told me, "Someday you will write a book." That some day is today. I have now written a 75000+ word novel, short stories, and 160 posts on this wonderful blog among other things. I have started two more novels. When I first shared my dreams with my daughter and husband, my wise, young daughter told me to start a blog and get the rust off my writing skills. I do love writing this blog. Reading in my second favorite pastime after time with my family and writing.
So keep your fingers crossed out there that my novel, "The Distance Between Us", will someday find it's way to your hands and remember that your life is too short to wait one minute longer to begin living it. Now get out there and go for it! You are lucky enough!
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