Forgive me, I’m trying to recreate this one from memory because google lost the cache of it. ๐
I hope I can do it justice again.
My lovely critique partner, Raine asked: The year is more than half over. What have you done? And this is something I’ve actually thought about a lot lately. ๐
June is the two year anniversary of when I sat down and decided to seriously write. I’ve started a slew of manuscripts, finished four, hired and fired an agent, sold a short story (that’s now in PRINT) and sold a novella. Most of all, I’ve grown as a writer. But I have a more important anniversary coming up.
August 8 will be the eight year anniversary of my divorce. Yes I celebrate it! When I walked out on my ex, I’d reached the point where I wanted him dead–no joke (forgive the TMI). I think the only thing that kept me from killing him was getting caught and ending up a girltoy of a chick named Bertha. Not my idea of fun. ๐ฎ That and the thought of his family possibly raising my children–after all, they did such an excellent job with him. We did NOT have a healthy relationship and I finally decided I could be just as broke, and LORD were we broke, and ten times happier on my own.
When I left I had two kids under the age of three, I was going to college full time and working full time. It took me a year to get a divorce and my ex didn’t pay child support for 26 months. I was on welfare and I finally had to drop out of college and get a better paying job. I lost my wonderful on campus housing and eventually my car was repossessed because I couldn’t afford the payments. There are days it was all I could do to get out of bed, there are days I hope my children don’t remember, because, as hard as this is to say, I wasn’t a good mom. Never mind that I’d actually ended up in a better job, mentally I’d hit rock bottom. I finally got help (and got medicated ๐ ) and four years ago, I swore off men. My ex wasn’t the only bad man choice I made in my life.
Two years ago I wrote my first manuscript. It took me that long to figure out that I was actually supposed to be writing down all the stuff the little voices in my head were saying ๐ . I spent two months writing it and God knows how much longer editing. I also started another, started a Blaze and wrote a novella.
Then one of those men I’d sworn off popped back up …and I took a trip to Target. Then I wrote a book about it (that nearly sold!). I had to–the real story is too unbelievable ๐ .
Two years ago I also started looking for a house. To buy. For the kids and me. It took me long enough, but I finally found one I couldn’t live without. And even though I haven’t accomplished much writerly-wise in the last six months, it wasn’t time wasted.
I bought my first house, all by myself, in May.