Adulting is a term I’ve been hearing a lot lately, particularly from my grown and nearly-grown children. As a writer, it makes me cringe a bit–adult is not a verb, people. But another part of me–the part that is thrilled to see my children doing actions that can be summarized by this non-verb–is perfectly fine with it. So much so that I’m doing a bit of my own “adulting” right now, blogging about my novel that was released today. Here goes–
The sequel to Yesterday’s Promise is here, folks! A Promise for Tomorrow begins right where YP ended. Collin and Katie are finally going to get off that cliff. The one they weren’t technically hanging from (I left them quite content in a tender embrace) but readers slayed me for anyway. In a weird sort of way I am thankful so many of you cared enough to let me know how terrible I was for ending YP as I did. Now please go read APFT and feel much better about it all 🙂 I really have repented of my cliff hanging ways.
Adulting over.
That is, unfortunately, about as good as I get at marketing. I love, love, love writing the stories I do. But the other side of writing, the actually getting people to purchase my books, I am admittedly lousy at. Thank you Heather Moore and Mirror Press employees who work on my behalf, for your patience. I’m trying.
It’s just that so many other things seem to compete for my time and need to come first. Today, for example, I awoke with the clear intent of writing this blog (should have been done already, I realize. My bad again). However, nearly adult daughter is in the process of finishing up her college application essays. For those of you who haven’t done this lately, it’s a beastly process. Talk about every word counting. At least part of her future is riding on these words, and with the challenge of being dyslexic, words don’t come easily to paper for her. So when the plea for Mom’s assistance with editing came, I had to answer the call. Because this daughter is awesome. This daughter paid her own monthly choir fees of $350 today, though there were many other things she would have liked to do with that money. This daughter is reliable and responsible and sweet and kind. I adore her so much I really shouldn’t help her with these essays, because when she goes off to college I’m really going to miss her.
Watching our children grow up is hard. Watching them struggle, letting them leave. Seeing them fail sometimes and then having to allow them to pick themselves back up is hard. All of it. When our daughter goes to college next year she’ll be our fourth child to leave. Daughter number three, our baby for so long, will be off adulting on her own. It’s crazy and sad and happy all at once. I love seeing her successes, but wow, will I miss her.
So please forgive me if I don’t do so well at reaching out to readers. I’m aware my website needs updating, I need to blog more often, and should post on my Facebook page more frequently. It’s not that I don’t love and appreciate my readers. I do–truly. I am so very grateful to each of you who do read my stories and make it possible for me to continue to do the thing I love.
It’s just that as real as the characters in my stories become to me, and as important as writing and marketing is, the son who wants me to snuggle each night (thereby stealing a bit of my writing time) is the one who is real. And I’m not sure how much longer he’ll want those snuggles. The daughter who needs help babysitting so she can finish her degree is real too. As are the son and daughter and grandson we Facetime with each week and try to spend a lot of time with when they visit. With a husband, five children, and four grandchildren, my family life is as full and overflowing as ever. And admittedly, I still am not so good at balancing it all.
There was no fanfare or launch party today to celebrate the release of A Promise for Tomorrow. Rather I felt a great deal of satisfaction when my daughter finished three of her five essays (two more to come tonight when she gets home from work. It’s going to be a late one). Maybe that’s what adulting is really all about. Putting what needs to happen, what has to happen first, and figuring out how to squeeze in the pursuit of our dreams on the side. It’s an ongoing process, one I’m pretty sure I’ll be working on for some time to come.
In A Promise for Tomorrow Katie’s working on this too–on things like figuring out how to be a wife, understanding her gift, and ultimately using it as a map for her future. I hope you enjoy her story and a chance to visit the past and Scotland for a few hours. Adulting is fine, but we all need a break from it once in a while.
Happy Reading
