Hello Blog Readers, Writers, and SCWBI Members,
Thank you for welcoming me back from a long time away from writing and my writing friends. You want to know where I've been and what I've been doing since I began my writer's journey 15+ years ago. Well... the short of it is LIFE hit me hard. As it does for all of us at one point or another. If you can use the traumas life brings to your doorstep for growth, then you will have an arsenal of ideas and complicated characters for your novels.
Below you will find my journey...and some great tools to help you on yours.
Live life, play, and create!
Play by Play...
- I was writing and enjoying being creative - my kids were still small, in elementary school.
- I headed off to writer's conferences and started learning more about my craft.
- I made writing friends and even got an interning job with Andrea Brown Literary Agency.
- Everything was great and easy going....my life was blessed.
- The Universe had other plans for my growth...
SO...
- My husband became a partner with the founder of Paleo Magazine
- We had to move to Bend, Oregon, to learn the magazine from the ground up to help it become more widely distributed.
- My kids had to leave their best friends & I had to leave my writer-wife, Victoria Piontek, and my agent internship behind.
- There were upsets and disappointments from all sides.
- I gave up my writing and put my finished novels in a drawer.
Life moved one way...without my consent (like it always does)
- Ten years flew by --- the magazine was all-consuming
- My husband - the publisher, and I, as content writer/contributor and other behind-the-scenes jobs, took all of our time and focus as our kids grew into middle schoolers.
- There were conferences and never-ending research into all things Paleo and Keto.
- My creativity was zapped....then came the family drama!
- Personal family issues took over, and for another 4 years, we were on rocky territory - not just relationship-wise but health-wise
- Then COVID hit the world, and we all hunkered down.
- My family and I learned how to live together 24/7, and we used meditation to cope with the stresses.
TODAY...
- I am proud to say we have come a long way, baby.
- We're back to ourselves, and I'm back to my creativity.
- Our family is together, and our health issues are on the mend.
- We have our older son in his first year of college at Warren Wilson and our younger son starting his junior year of High School.
- The timing is right for me to dust off those old books and revise, submit, and cross my fingers.
The moral of the STORY...you can do it all...LATER
- It's never too late to do what you came here to do!
- Dust off those old ideas and look at them again - you will find that your old writing is ready for your new understanding that life taught you while it sat in that drawer.
- You can have a life....a crazy, windy, bizarre, frustrating path....and be creative, too.
- It's not all or nothing.
- Reach out to your friends, and those true to you will still be there!
- Just when I thought my life was going in one direction, the Universe had other plans, and at first, I hated the Universe and its meddling.
NOW...
- I'm excited about my creativity in a whole new way.
- I have more compassion in me.
- I understand the voices I am hearing in my characters, and I know why they're talking to me.
- I get life in a more deep way than I did over ten years ago when everything was peachy.
- I've made it through some tough stuff, and I'm standing and still laughing.
To all you writers and artists out there that had to put aside your dreams and make it through your life as it came at you....you are not alone!
Whatever you couldn't finish then....you can do later.
Some advice that helped me in my most dark hours:
- Journal your anger, sadness, despair, and grief.
- Meditate every time you feel like it's not worth it.
- Sleep, eat healthy, and exercise - take care of yourself.
- If you notice you are losing weight or gaining weight, reevaluate your food choices and get the help you need to stay healthy.
- Join a group - I joined a Priestess group where we learned about the Goddesses throughout many cultures. It was amazing to be around other women and to hold each other sacredly in that space.
- Tell only those you trust and are in your life for your highest and best. Many people are going through trauma, and where they are may not be where you are or want to go. Talk to others, but only those who care for you without agendas.
- Wake up your creativity slowly and with less judgment. I started by painting with my left hand, which is my non-dominant hand. It took the judgment out of it for me and allowed me to slowly enjoy creating again.
Wherever you are --- you are there.
When you're ready and you feel grounded again, your creativity will be there for you. I promise. It may hibernate, but it does not abandon you!
I am here to encourage you back to yourself.
I am here to say YOU CAN DO IT!
The time is when you are ready.
Angie
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