Juggling

It’s a busy season of life, but one that I am so grateful for. 

I’ve got a lot on my plate. A lot of balls in the air. They are my monkeys, and it is my circus. 

I’m overwhelmed with the positive support after I debuted my website and posted about my book! I’m so flattered and honored that people seem to be excited about what I wrote, but with that now comes new trepidation for me. I’m nervous! 

Several people have asked me about what I wrote in my previous blog post about how what I write is always partially based in reality. Which is true, but I don’t want people to read into the book and try to find influences of people I’ve known or places I’ve been. I truly want the book to be read as fiction, because it is fictional. 

I mostly draw from interactions and feelings that I’ve had in my life, and create scenarios to help me explain those feelings. Just because I experienced something similar to the main character does not mean that she is me, or the characters were based on my real friends, or that I reacted the same way that the character does. The book has more been a way to express thoughts that I’ve had about the whole thing, but with a character arc that wouldn’t happen in real life to a real person. Or at least, not a person like me. I’ve grown as a person, but not as beautifully and linearly as a character in a book. 

We’re in the final stages of editing Gray Area. It’s been some back and forth with my fantastic editor, Miranda, but we’re nearly there and ready to send it to the designers. With the consideration of trying to get this book ready for printing, being a debut author is my part time job right now. 

However, I already have another part time job. I give violin lessons in the afternoons, and often have to rush home after school to make it in time to set up for these lessons, so that keeps me busy a few afternoons a week. I also have rehearsals for the local symphony, as we are heading towards our final concert of this season. So, violin-related endeavors take up a good chunk of my time as well.

All of this without addressing my actual full time job of being a teacher! Coming into the last ten weeks of the school year is busy for all teachers, but the excitement and anticipation is ramping up because I teach seniors, and we are already counting down the days until high school graduation. With that comes a lot of hubbub, celebration, and planning for the future. 

With teaching, the book, and violin stuff, I feel like I’m not able to give my all to other tasks in my life. Last year we finished building our house, but there’s still work to be done. We’re in our third year of marriage, and Gaven is both coaching baseball right now and finishing up his masters degree. Our pets are probably attention starved, and I rarely see my friends. Sorry, friends. You know I love you. 

As teachers, we know that everything will wind down as we head into summertime, but for right now? It’s busy. Basically, this is a simple life update, which is to say that I have a lot going on, but I’m happy, and I hope to devote more time to writing and such soon.