Has it Really Been Five Years?

It's hard to believe it's been five years since I pitched at the Writer's League of Texas Agents and Editors Conference in Austin, Texas. But here I am, one novel heavier and thousands of pages wiser in my writerly journey toward publication. After my last post, some of you probably wondered if I would give up writing in pursuit of a career in environmental consulting that seems ready to break out at any moment.

Well, as I've said many times before, I'm never happy doing just one thing. I have to be neck-deep in at least two different careers at any given time in order to satisfy my need (or perhaps my birth defect) of wearing multiple hats. Perhaps I'm hopelessly divided. Or perhaps you really can have two different life passions without having to choose one over the other.

After I wrote the last post, I was thinking maybe the writing thing was done. Maybe I had gotten it out of my system and I could move on to other career choices, building my natural living sanctuary, helping others in a meaningful and significant way. But I realized every time I try to "break-up" with creative writing, my heart always returns to it.

It's a wonderful place to be--in the creative zone, spending time with your characters and getting to know them better as they reveal more of themselves through their dialogue and actions. It's a profoundly spiritual experience as well, emotionally draining and uplifting at the same time, and always in some way, satisfying on a human level. Knowing my characters better gets me in touch with the core of the human spirit. I know what is profoundly true for my characters is, in some way and through different life experience, true for every human being as well.

There is great power and wisdom in coming to these realizations. And I am richer for it.

Alas, I digress...

That said, I basically freaked myself out last week by deciding, after a set of long-awaited developmental comments came back from my editor, that the manuscript (after the last few tweaks and a stellar line edit) was finally ready to spread its wings and fly out into the world. I decided to jump into the fray and pitch my manuscript to an agent. I was nervous, but for very different reasons than the first time I pitched at a conference.