What have I been doing?

A lot. I don't know if you know much about me, but career-wise, I've struggled. While I love writing, it's not a steady income. I know we all think that writers wake up, walk the dog, do some yoga, and then sit down and write for three hours or so in their beachouse, and then go out back to hang out watching the surf.

Ha.

I wish writing was that lucrative. Most writers make less than $10,000 a year. If they're lucky. And if they are actively releasing titles. I sure am not.

So last year, I took a jump, and took the GREs and applied to grad schools and if you haven't followed me on Facebook or Instagram...


I got into Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tennesssee. It's a great grad school for people going for Master of Marriage and Family Therapy/Counseling and License Practicing Counselors. I love it. It's taught me I'm not dumb or hopeless, and I'm capable of graduate school level work. And yeah, I haven't had a lot of time to write, and I have done some that can't be published, mostly for fun. In MMFT/C, I've discovered that we have to do self-care along with studying (I even had a class in how to handle the stress of being a therapist, and part of it was about the importance of self-care). That's where I get most of my writing, if any, done.

So, as for original fiction and the Magi Chronicles, I hit a roadblock. My friend beta-read it, and so did my other friend. The first one said that it was enjoyable, but needed some shaping up. The other one said that I needed to make the first chapter less busy. and while I am not someone to be sensitive about constructive criticism, I just couldn't fix it. I wanted to fix it, but it just didn't come together. So, last fall while I was starting my first semester at TNU, I ended up having to leave it alone.

And of course, I stressed about school. While trying to do self-care and study and work, I got the bite again. I managed to rewrite the first chapter, and it's working. I'm really hoping this comes back to life and the Magi Chronicles can get rolling!

Stay tuned!