Update

I set out to write this post to apologize and explain my absence in the virtual world and my lack of progress on producing a book, but you deserve more than apologies and excuses. So, I’m going to give you some truths. I can’t remember the last time I worked on Hudson’s story, and I can’t promise it will be out this year. For a while, I got lost writing and outlining other stories. I outlined my next series entirely, but that stopped. A series of events happened (the Delta variant hit my community hard, financial troubles, someone broke into my car, and I almost had to quit college) and I lost my drive to continue. I considered giving up writing. I can’t keep up with newsletters, social media, and blogs. I’m constantly busy in my daily life. I have to make time to write most of the time, and sometimes I’m just too exhausted. I can’t keep up. When curveballs come my way, it derails everything. This is likely the reason why I’m struggling right now. I’m too overwhelmed.

The night I quit writing completely was the night someone broke into my car. I was up that night like I am most nights writing. I was sitting on my couch working on the first book of the next series, and I didn’t hear anything. My dogs didn’t hear anything. We discovered it when my husband went to work. That didn’t sit right with me. Whoever did it could see my light on and possibly heard my TV. The incident kept me up for days and completely destroyed my creativity.

Over this past week, though, a couple of things happened. My mother-in-law paid the rest of my tuition for this semester. I’m truly blessed to have such a wonderful mother-in-law. She’s one of my biggest champions. I can’t thank her enough for this. When I discovered I couldn’t cover the tuition, I cried. I felt defeated. I’m so close to graduating, and I worked so hard to get here. I was so depressed even my dog Chewie (yes, short for Chewbacca) became depressed. I hadn’t seen him that miserable since my dog, Cotton, died. (Cotton was his best friend and mine.)

The other thing that happened some might consider trivial. Last week (Thursday) was the Field of Dreams Game between the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox. I’m a huge baseball fan. I love watching it, I love playing it, I love movies and books about it. I love everything about baseball. As I watched what I consider a perfect baseball game, I was filled with tremendous joy. It was like a dream. They incorporated the movie and historical aspects so well I was blown away. And to make things better, it was great gameplay. Several home runs were hit into the cornfield, including the game-winning home run. After this game, while sitting quietly alone in my living room, I realized I don’t want to quit. I want to keep writing. Writing brings me joy, similar to the way that game did. I love creating stories, even if the process gets chaotic sometimes. Seriously, sometimes I get ahead of myself, and plot holes develop. (That’s what is currently wrong with Hudson’s story. I completed it, but there is a plot hole I have to work on.) I spent this past week updating my Facebook and website. You might have noticed. I know Facebook gives notifications about that sometimes. I’ve also been working on my time management, so I won’t neglect my blog, newsletter, and social media. I know I’ll hit a few bumps and forget to log in or post a blog because I’m a forgetful person. I get distracted easily. But I won’t let it lead to long periods of silence, and if I need to take some time, I will let you know.

Thank you all for your patience and understanding. I will leave you with this promise. I won’t quit writing and leave a series unfinished. If I had decided to quit, I would have finished Hudson’s story. Have a great weekend, everyone.

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— Meredith