2008 Will be My Year!

Just to prove how little I know about blogging, I thought this blog I set up months ago was the same blogging-sphere as blogger.com. How embarrassing! So to consolidate my blogs into one place, I am moving those entries all to this account so that I'm not so spread out across the blog world.

I was appointed Editor-in-Chief of our school newspaper at Stephen Decatur Junior High School in Clinton, Maryland, in the early 80's. I enjoyed the process of writing, editing, cutting and pasting (back then it was with scissors and Scotch tape, not with Microsoft Word), and printing copies of our newspaper, then selling them during all three lunch periods. I couldn't wait to hear the students' comments about the various stories, essays, comics, song dedications, and advice columns written by me and my fellow journalists.

When I entered Surrattsville Senior High School, we didn't have a school newspaper, so that was a big let-down. I didn't have the wherewithal to start one, so I busied myself with being a member of the Art Club instead. My twelfth grade psychology teacher, Marcia Moody (wow, how I miss her!), introduced me to journaling, and I've been hooked ever since.

After becoming pregnant in 1987, my goal of continuing with college ended and my dream of becoming a journalist and/or artist faded. I took creative writing classes at community colleges through the years, but didn't dedicate the time and effort to my writing until 1993 when I wrote my first book. I gave up getting it published after only 3 rejection letters (now I know to expect about 300!). The book is outdated now, and will possibly be rewritten into non-fiction, but for now, it gathers dust.

In 1994, I broke into publication with my first article, "Breaking the Chain," in Biracial Child magazine. Shortly after that, Interrace magazine, the parent company of Biracial Child, published my second article, "How Come I'm Not Gray?" The rush of emotions of seeing my writing in print was a natural high that I'd never experienced before, and was one I hoped to experience again and again.

I have attended several writers' conferences through the years and now belong to writers' groups . In August 2007, I discovered citizen journalism on "YourHub" at www.coloradosprings.com. After posting several stories and seeing my stories in print, the rush of emotions flooded back and ignited the writing passion again. Being able to write personal stories, persuasive essays, vent about certain topics, and blog about my weight loss journey (http://coloradosprings.yourhub.com/~IncredibleShrinkingWoman) have contributed to building that passion into a fire out of control. I became grumpy at work because I wanted to pursue my lifelong dream of becoming a writer instead of answering the phone and typing leases. I knew a life-changing decision had to be made. And soon!

I married the man of my dreams, Gregory Johnson, on July 7, 2007. At the age of 40, he knew how desperately I wanted to write full time, so in October, with his blessing, and YourHub being the catalyst for me to decide to pursue my writing passion, I turned in my resignation. On November 2, 2007, I officially became a "writer," and couldn't be happier. I had been working on a new book since 2002, but couldn't dedicate the time and effort it needed because I was working full time, raising three children (I was a single mom before I got married), and doodling with my art (see my arts & crafts website at www.nepneeart.etsy.com). But now, I could put my heart and soul into my writing (and into my painting too, if I felt so inclined) and I'm determined to land a contract, or at least an agent, this year.

Through Pikes Peak Writers, I attended a "Write Brain" workshop this month (Jan. '08) hosted by Cynthia Morris, author of Create Your Writer's Life: A Guide to Writing with Joy and Ease. She had us go through several exercises of writing down our goals, what steps we needed to take to make our goals happen, how to ignore saboteurs, and give ourselves deadlines.

By reading Cynthia's book, I have come to a new appreciation of my life as a writer, and have followed much of her advice. I have my "Sanctuary" all set up (I painted a large mural on my wall along with several quotes throughout my office to inspire me), my laptop, my books, my research material, etc. right where I need them so I have no more excuses. I have 5 chapters (14,000+ words) of my book written so far. This blog will be my journey through the process, and I am claiming 2008 to be "My Year."

Some of my goals for 2008:

Join a critique group by February.
Finish the rough draft manuscript of my book by July.
Find an agent by October.
Land a contract by December.

So, I'll be back to blog about all my ups and downs, pulling all-nighters, overcoming writers block, posting encouraging sayings, sharing things I've learned, giving advice to myself, etc.

Please check back often on my progress and feel free to leave comments.