Third Blog is the Charm

It’s New Year’s Day, and one of my resolutions is to work more on my writing projects, and to put more of my writing out to the public, so I’m starting a new blog. It’s my third attempt at a blog, for the third year in a row.

My first blog, “Write to the Finish Line,” (www.writetothefinishline.blogspot.com) existed from January to August 2007, and focused on my effort to finish one of my many books-in-progress. I committed to writing a teen novel, What Luck, that I’d started in the fall of 2006, and I made some good progress on both the book and the blog. I got about halfway through my first draft, and I posted 27 blog entries, until computer problems derailed my writing. By the time my boyfriend Ian got a new computer, the holiday season had started at the bookstore where I work, and I had no free time to write until the new year. So in January 2008, I started a second blog, “Write to the End,” (www.writetotheend.blogspot.com), as a do-over of the first blog. But that blog fizzled out, after only 4 entries, at the end of March. I didn’t make much new progress on my book, either. My writing took a back seat to stuff that was happening in life.

So this is blog number three. And hopefully, the third time will be the charm, as the saying goes. This time, I’m opening it up so that the topic won’t be so narrow. Yes, it’s still about my endeavor to finish writing a book – it’s “right about time” for me to accomplish this goal. But I also want to “write about time”, a subject that fascinates me and has informed much of my writing and thoughts about life. And I’m interested in the “rites about time” – the rituals and observances people use to mark the passages of time and life.

Some basic info about me: I live in the Hudson Valley, NY, with my boyfriend, Ian, who manages a photo lab and is working on a career as a fine-art photographer. I’ve been writing ever since I learned to read and write, around age 5. I wrote my first full-length book, at 10 years old, as a fifth-grade writing project. Both my fifth and sixth teachers encouraged me in my writing, and it was easy to write for fun while imagining a career as a writer when I grew up. I studied journalism and communications at Northeastern University in Boston, and later got a 2-year professional certificate in journalism from New York University. But I haven’t pursued a career in journalism, because I realize that I’m a fiction writer at heart. I’m a member of SCBWI (the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators) – its local chapter meets every month at the bookstore where I work. I’m in a writing group, the “Wildwood Writing Group,” with my close friends, Michelle, Rich and Lisa. They are excellent and creative writers, and our monthly meetings are always inspiring. I have two novels in the works now. My young adult novel, What Luck, is about a 13-year-old girl who relies on following her great-grandmother’s superstitions as a way to cope with all the uncertainties and changes in her life. I’ve also started an adult modern-fantasy novel, Crossed Currents, about a woman who meets up with her 20-years-younger self. I hope to finish both manuscripts by the end of this year. Hopefully, this blog will motivate me to reach these goals.

So here’s to a productive and successful 2009. Happy New Year, everyone!