Christmas Miracle, New Release, And Turning 50!
As I type this, I’m on a plane home from Orlando where I celebrated my 50th birthday with family and friends. It’s something I never thought would happen. The last several years I’ve been busy rebuilding my life after my twenty plus year marriage ended. With all the changes and new responsibilities, I didn’t have the time or energy to focus on celebrating this milestone birthday. But if I was committed to creating an extraordinary life, how could I not celebrate?
Thanks to some quick planning cousins and an awesome 5 bedroom Airbnb in Orlando (thanks, Dad!) we made it happen, and I’m grateful for all the love and memories.
Needless to say, the last five years have been a challenging journey I never anticipated. (I’ll save all the details for a book I’m writing.) After climbing this crazy, lonely mountain, I finally feel like I’m standing at the top ready to ski down the other side. Which brings me to my Christmas miracle and the fictitious mountains of Christmas Tyme, Colorado.
About a year ago after doing the hard work of healing and rebuilding my personal life, I needed another breakthrough; this time in my writing. It had been over seven years since I finished a novel, even though I had almost a dozen unfinished manuscripts in my computer. I was blocked, and I knew it was time to do something drastic. So I joined a group of writers and committed to writing a Christmas Mystery novella. I thought with a deadline and accountability, I’d get the job done and overcome my writing block.
I’d like to say I tackled that novella right away, but there was still some hurting, healing, and growing I needed to do. After getting rid of all the emotional and physical Ishmael’s in my life, I was ready to sit down and write my novel. The only problem was, I had 6 months left and the last book I wrote took seven years. I’ll spare you all the details about the early mornings and long weekends writing and whining in my cave. It was not fun, but 67,000 words later, I realized I wrote more than a novella. I wrote a full-blown novel!
God provided a couple of amazing editors at the last minute, reminding me that miracles do happen, but it was hard work and my commitment, spurred on by a couple of cheerleaders that really got the job done. And despite my doubt that the book was any good, (I was going for good enough,) the first 5 star reviews are coming in.
This breakthrough novel was just wanted I needed to relaunch my writing passion and belief that I could do it! And I am!
