Jump in... Jump out... Introduce yourself... My name is Sara (Sara)

I want to write (write)... I quit my day job (day job)... so now I can (can)

Don't pretend like you read that didn't know EXACTLY how the rhythm was supposed to go. 

Well hello.  Considering this blog is brand spanking new and the only people who will see this post are friends and family - this little introduction is pretty much unneccesary.  However, perhaps in the future I'll have readers who haven't known and loved me my entire life... so this is for them :)

I'm a girl from (and still living in) Northern Virginia.  I've been writing stories and poems since I could hold a pen, but recently I've taken it to a more serious level.  I've had fun and (in my mind) brilliant ideas for novels for years, but this past June (2009) I woke up one morning with a tale burning through my system, just begging to be told. 

I'd never felt anything like it. 

My husband and I (newly weds as of December 2008, thank you very much) were spending the weekend with friends in Annapolis, Maryland.  The story came to me before I'd fully opened my eyes the first morning there.  As soon as N (hubby) woke up, I dragged him (actually made him drag/drive me) to the nearest grocery store, bought a spiral notebook and a pack of pens and wrote through the morning.  I've been working on (what's turned into) my first novel ever since.

It's been a wild journey so far, to say the least.  But I believe in what I'm doing with such passion (and thankfully N does too) that I quit my job as a math teacher and am pursuing this full time.  How lucky am I?  I don't take a single day for granted - I can't believe I've

been

given this opportunity to go after my lifelong dream!!  Who actually does that anymore?

And I've really got to give it up for my fabulous husband.  He's honestly already my biggest fan and is wonderfully and encouragingly supportive.  He pushes me to write every day.  Without him, I wouldn't be able to do any of this.  With him, I'm the happiest I've ever been.

You may be wondering what the heck a math teacher knows about writing, so let me tell you a little bit about my background.  I minored in English in college.  (And as I said, I've already been writing for ages... seriously over two decades.)  I've taken - and continue to take - several creative and fiction writing workshop classes.  The one I'm taking now is amazing, and I'm sure I'll write to it a bit later.  My grandmother on my father's side, and my uncle on my mother's side have both had books published.  I come from a long line of very creative people.  (My Pop-Pop was actually considered one of the top ten calligraphers in the world, believe it or not.  My aunt is a talented artist.  My cousin is an actor.  The list could go on and on...)

I've written about 26,000 words of the book so far and I'd say I'm nearing the halfway mark.  Of course this is just the first draft, and I'm just trying to get the story written without much editing or rewriting yet.  So there's still quite a long process ahead of me.  And that's just before I submit it for publication (or maybe I'll try to find an agent first).

Sheesh.  So much to do. 

I've had a major procrastination problem the past couple of weeks.  There's been a lot to do around the house, we've had new furniture come in (including a desk for me - yay!), and I've been experimenting with my culinary skills (with a LOT of success thanks to Hot Blonde in the Kitchen, allrecipes.com, and a few others).  There always seems to be something else that pops up that needs to be done - and as I'm at home, it's easy to do it and push off the writing.  Now I see why some people have trouble working from home!  But since I finally have a desk all set up, I've created my own personal writing nook and am determined to write every day.  To quote one of my favorite writing professors "any day that you write is a good day" - I believe it.

And therein lies one of the purposes to this blog.  Yes, creating it may have been just another procrastination technique - but in the long run I think it will keep me more on track than anything else.  I'll give updates to how the work is going (knowing I have to do this will make me want to have more to report on), make note of different ideas I come up with, keep a log of side projects (poetry and short stories), and keep track of helpful things I learn along the way.

Another reason I'm starting this blog is to better immerse myself in the writing community.  I'll search out other writers and sites to learn from, and maybe even someday another new writer might stumble across my babbling and learn something useful too!

So there you have it!

♥ me