Welcome Back! -- an Update and a Re-Evaluation

Tap, tap, tap! Does this thing still work??

Ahem.

Yes, I'm back after a much extended break. So, let me catch you up on what's happened in since I did a serious post back in January.

My little man +121 after transplant, feeling great!

In early February, we were told that we were ready for transplant, and March 1 found my husband and I driving from Kansas City to Seattle, WA, where we proceeded with my son's bone marrow transplant. It  was slated to happen the last week in March, but he got a virus (which he wasn't symptomatic for!) and forced a delay until May 1. From May 1 until July 23, we were outpatient for only 2 weeks, 14 hours! My little boy kept getting sick for various reasons, so we never got more than a week and a few hours out the two times we were outpatient.

However.

He has done AMAZINGLY well, and we were able to leave on his day +101 to come home!! We arrived home on August 12, which ended up being a bit of a whirlwind for us. We got home at 12:45 AM, rushed to make an appointment with our KC BMT doctor, then went to see my grandmother who was dying... and who passed away while we were with her.

I am so glad I got to come home and see her one last time.

___________

So, whirlwind 5 1/2 months means no writing, right? 

Nope. 

While I didn't do near as much writing as I'd hoped to do in those five and a half months, I did more than I think many people expected I would. I finished the third draft on my suspense-in-the-future book, Reprisal, and moved further along with the first draft of my police procedural with a Sci-Fi-y twist, Dead Before Arrival. I also began drafting a short story that will be a prequel to Beyond Dead and Dead Before Arrival--and am actively brainstorming ideas for a series of shorts that could very well lead up to the publication of both books, plus the third book in the trilogy, which I've yet to name or do more with than have a few ideas for scenes that could or should happen in them. 

Which brings me to the re-evaluation phase of this post.

Something in me snapped last fall where publishing is concerned. Most of you who regularly read this blog will remember I've said repeatedly that I'm only interested in getting an agent and going the traditional route. I'm not sure what changed, but something has. Maybe it's watching so many of my friends succeed in self-publishing, maybe it's the further success of e-books, or the fact they're now outselling physical books, but I've been re-evaluating what my desires are for publishing.

Over the last several months, I've been listening to podcasts like Self-Publishing Podcast and Joanna Penn's The Creative Penn with regularity--maybe even being on the brink of being a bit obsessive about it.  In the many hours of listening while driving or doing house chores, the things the hosts and their guests have said struck a chord with me, and I'm beginning to see how it's possible for lil' ol' me to be successful in self-publishing. I've got a few hang-ups I'm working through, but thankfully, I've got friends whom I can pick the brains of. 

Currently, I'm formulating a plan to begin publishing in the next 18 months--maybe even sooner. We'll have to see how that goes. I'm starting to chomp at the bit in order to make this happen, so if I can keep up that level of enthusiasm and have things come together, you may be seeing my name in print very soon!

As for this blog, I'm going to keep trying to plug away at it, though as I think I've said in the past, it's going to encompass more of what interests me besides writing, so you may hear about kitchen disasters, anecdotes about my kids, or whatever else floats my boat. I'm also considering doing a non-fiction book about my experiences during transplant, although I'm not really sure about the direction of the project yet.

Until next time,