Sunday, May 18, 2014

Free to be Me

I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself. For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition.

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I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself. For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition. <Martha Washington > 



Is it me, or does this year seem to be flying by?  Seems like just yesterday I was changing diapers, carting kids to little league or ballet and fighting bedtime. Now, the kids are grown and, for the most part, moved out and it's just me and my husband. Which is a good thing. Now we can do what we want, when we want, without having to worry about babysitters.


When my kids were younger I would hear stories about the "empty nest" syndrome...how couples would have to learn to be a couple again or get used to not having the kids around as buffers or excuses to do things together....and I waited for it to happen for us....but it hasn't.  Sounds kinda bad, doesn't it? I love my children to the Heavens and back, and I miss the days when they were young and home....but not to the extent of not knowing who I am without them. And, my husband and I have never had problems with being a couple. Over our 22 years of marriage, we'd do the occasional 'date night'....which happens more now than before. We enjoy each other's company but we also enjoy doing our own thing. He likes to golf, I like to be alone to read or write or maybe visit the local casino.  My husband's job requires him to travel a lot which has never been a problem for me and he was away a lot when the children were still in elementary school because of being in the service, which was still not an issue for me because I'm an extreme introvert...I LIKE to be alone with me. Plus, being raised by a single parent (my aunt) I had to step up often to be the adult and take care of the family (in a housewife sort of way) so I was used to it. The family and their needs always came first.


So, now that I don't have children to take care of (more or less) I can focus on me. Back in '99 I decided I wanted to pursue a writing career. I'd always loved making up stories and had an active imagination, so I started training myself on how to write a novel. In 2003 I sat down and wrote my first book, which I completed within two months. Now, because I was still 'green' and not as trained in the craft as I thought I was, it took a lot of time to fix the story in order to make it publishable. I did countless revisions, added scenes, pulled scenes and rewrote scenes. Eight years after I wrote The End on the last page, I sold the book, Forget Me Not, to Decadent Publishing!  In 2003, a couple of weeks after finishing Forget Me Not, I started a second book. It took me two months to write as well because the story had been in my head for a very long time. Again, the time between writing the end and publishing was quite long, but I'm thrilled to say Dark Obsession is now available online!


Back in the day when we lived off my husband's Coast Guard salary and money was so tight we had to pawn whatever we had of value just to buy food, I never stopped believing things would get better. Patience is a virtue I learned to hold on to. And faith is something I've never given up.


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The Romance Reviews

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