Wow. I can’t believe that I’m at the tail end of my writing program. The year whipped by fast, and the constant production of writing has (I think, I hope) finally gotten me to a consistent writing practice and given me more confidence in my ability as a writer.

The deadline to submit to the anthology is Friday at noon, so I only have a very small window of time to finalize my submission. It’s a bit nerve wracking but I’m also so very excited about the possibility of having something I’ve written be out in the real world (outside of my blog and whatever I share on social media). 

The first piece is an excerpt from The Story Wrangler, a novel that I’ve been workshopping this year. I also wanted to submit some poetry (since I spent the first half of the program workshopping those) and there may be room for two.

I’m excited and I’m wistful. I’ve enjoyed the company of my cohort; along with my other cohorts and our mentor, Fiona, they have all given me such valuable insight into my skill gaps and strengths.

Most of all, I’ve learned that I love writing. I am in love with writing. I write because it’s unthinkable for me not to. I write because stories call to me (so, so many of them) and they want to be told.