There are times when fear chases my shadow and I wonder why I’m not where I think I should be in my life. With promise of an agent reviewing my latest novel, The Last Merry Go Round, I feel I can breathe a little knowing validation will soon be on the horizon.

However, a thought keeps nagging me: Is the glass half-full or half-empty?

Life is passing by quicker than I can blink. It seems not too long ago, the year 2000 was here knocking and pushing the uncertainty of Y2K. Now as we enter 2019, Y2K is laughable! Our 2018 memories are still fresh from natural disasters like the California fires, fast-food-politics, and hate crimes . . . just too many memories to name!

Such a day-to-day-diet-of-negativity has put for most of 2018, my imagination into a box. The last six months have been hard to take a blank piece of paper and finish a story dear to my heart about four sisters—this was until last night, when a light came on in my head. I need to write to take my mind off all the headlines. I need to live through-and-dance with my characters. I need to continue to find a publisher who will champion my voice (should this interested agent turn me down). I need to write, period!  THIS VOICE crawling out from a lit corner of my mind is screaming: this is where~~ you, me, us ~~-are the most happy.

So, in an attempt to shed old habits, 2019 blog will be a little different. I will make an earnest attempt to log my progress on my next novel about the four sisters. To do this, I realize I must diet the 2018 weight of negativity—clean off my desk, turn off television (if I must watch a movie, then break it up into several nights of 30-minute segments, leave the internet alone, answer emails once a week, and carve out AT LEAST 30 MINUTES A DAY TO WRITE. I’ve made friends with a few amazing writers. This bond has been helpful when I have the blahs. I think in 2019, I’ll connect more with writers and even make an effort to attend a writing conference. Who knows, maybe the agent I’m looking for is waiting there for me!

Yeah, I’m still standing with the promise and gratitude that 2019 is giving me another chance to live my dream.