I hope there's books in Heaven

Today would have been my mother's 48th birthday. It's impossible to believe she's gone. I still have moments when I'll think of something and grab my phone and call her...and then I remember.

She (along with my grandmother) was responsible for my love of reading, and encouraged my imagination and writing. My mother was my #1 fan when my 1st book came out, and I wish she could have had the chance to read my 2nd. 

But I know their hands are guiding mine as I continue to write, and they will always be my biggest fans.

Pencil Envy

I envy those writers sitting at their favorite coffee joint typing away.

Trying to find time to write for me is damn near impossible, and of course when I seem to be at my busiest is when the best ideas come to me.

That's why I carry a notebook with me at all times.

My husband laughs at my scribblings and says my notes look like the ramblings of a mad person.

He's not far off.

Trying to go back and convert my notes into meaningful dialogue while dinner is cooking, my toddler hanging off my leg, ESPN newscasters arguing in the background and a dog begging to go out all after a 9 hr work day is another story.

But I can guarantee that if the day came that I found myself at my local coffee joint undisturbed with my laptop and a macchiato, I would stare blankly at my screen until I truly was mad.

But I guess all the best people are.

Where has the time gone?

I can't believe it has been almost 2 years since I self published my first book - Sacred. I never set out to write a book - much less a series - but tell that to the voices in my head.

Getting that bound proof in the mail with my name on the cover was one if the proudest moments in my life.

Fast forward 12 months...

My son was born almost exactly a year later. He became my universe. Needless to say my beginning draft for book 2 began collecting dust. Then just 3 weeks after my son was born, my mom was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. I lost her just 4 months later.

By the beginning of 2013 I was going through a major identity crisis. I was a new mother, a wife, I had been a caregiver for my mother, I was a full time employee...but who was I?

It wasn't until I dusted my laptop off and began writing again that I rediscovered myself. Writing was therapy, a healthy escape from reality, and besides my characters voices rambling in my head - my sanity.

I published my 2nd book - Sacrifice - in June, and book three is coming along nicely. I even have a children's book in the works, along with notes for an entirely new series.

Writing has made me a better mother, wife, friend and employee. It has made me a better me.

And this is just the beginning...