So … this blog has been a little quiet lately. Well, actually A LOT quiet. My last post was June of 2018. Yikes. To say it’s been a rough few years is an understatement.

Flashback to 2016 when things were going really well for me as an aspiring children’s book author. In February, I received VERY encouraging feedback from a trusted friend in the children’s literature business who critiqued five of my picture book manuscripts. In March, I applied for and won an SCBWI six month mentorship with picture book author Ellen Jackson. From March to August, with Ellen’s guidance and feedback, I revised and polished six manuscripts. In October, I had an AMAZING critique by a picture book author at an SCBWI conference, who said my newest picture book manuscript was ready to submit. WOW! My writing journey was speeding along and it felt like I was really, really close.

(Cue the dark, foreboding music)

At the end of 2016, life was literally and figuratively turned upside down when I rolled over in the middle of the night and developed severe vertigo. Even moving my head a fraction of an inch would send me spinning. It was awful and scary. As time went on, my symptoms lessened but never went away and it had a daily impact on my quality of life. My neurologist put me on medication in 2017, which eased the dizziness and made life more manageable. I was able to get back to writing and was more determined than ever to complete some new manuscripts for feedback and possible submission.

Unfortunately, those wonderful pills I was taking for my vertigo caused some serious medical issues that continually got worse and worse over the two years I was taking them. Many things in my life had to be put on the back burner, including my writing … which was devastating. This past summer, I finally said enough was enough. With help from a team of specialists, I slowly weaned myself off the vertigo medication and have found other ways to control my symptoms.

One of the positives of the past couple years was the realization that it was time for a career change. Last year, I started taking classes to become a school librarian (I’d been a special education teacher for a total of 14 years) and when the librarian assistant job opened up at my school, I jumped at the chance to apply. I got the job and it has been wonderfully healing and inspiring for me. I spend my days in a library surrounded by children’s books, learning from a librarian who is top-notch and an absolute blast to work with. My author brain has been switched back on and I’m loving all the book ideas that are coming out of me again.

So now … it is time to put the past in the past and fully embrace my passion again: writing and reading children’s books and sharing tidbits here with you as I pursue my goal of becoming a published children’s book author!

It’s time for a comeback! Let’s do this!

(Source: https://thechiclife.com)