It’s been the dream for too many years to count to be a full-time writer, but it’s finally happened! And it feels as amazing as I imagined to respond to the “what do you do?” question with “I’m a writer.”
I’ve been a writer for as long as I can remember, but I’ve never been able to be a writer first. My other career had to come first for so long, and writing had to be squeezed in around the edges. Sometimes I found time to write every day, or at least every week. But other times, I would go months without looking at my work-in-progress because of job fatigue, the need to spend my limited free time with family, and the myriad other obligations that we all have to fit into our days. And sometimes, when I could only squeeze another half hour into my day and still get a minimally reasonable amount of sleep, I had to choose mental health or physical health over writing.
Now, my days are (almost) completely mine, and I don’t have to live by a clock. If I want to write until the wee hours of the night, I do! If I get inspired in the morning, I grab a cup of coffee and sit by the picture window with the laptop on my lap as I watch the snow falling or the birds feeding. The great thing is, I can still be here for my family while also doing what I love.
It’s not all stress free, though – I have deadlines now that are no longer self-imposed, but publisher-imposed. That fact that I actually have a contract with a publisher still makes me giddy, and the stress is exhilerating now instead of exhausting.
I’m less than two months into my new career as only a writer, and I can’t wait for what each day brings.