A Middle Aged Newbie

I'm a middle aged Texan who is just two years into her writing journey. Oh, I've dreamed of being a writer since my teens. Like others before me, I started a novel, scribbling in my big, fat, girly handwriting, but I never finished it and it was stuffed in the bottom of my dresser. I suppose it is now in some dump somewhere, composting and enriching the earth.

I got married to the love of my life at the young age of 19, had four children by the time I was 30, all the while supporting my husband in ministry at various churches. Yep. I'm a pastor's wife. I usually don't like people to know that, because once they do, walls seem to go up. But it is such a huge part of who I am. I'm in ministry and proud of it. Oh wait, can I be proud? Is that allowed? Sigh...I never said I was a "good" pastor's wife!

I also have a full time job as an attendance clerk/registrar/receptionist at an elementary school nearby. It's a busy and sometimes stressful job, but I love the people I work with and I love having summers off! (Time to write, write, write, you know!)

So when did I start my real writing journey? It was the summer of 2008. I was 42 years old and figured out I would never realize my dream of writing a novel if I never even tried. So on my summer break I wrote 3/4 of my first novel. Since then I've been getting feedback and some critiques on it, but haven't really edited it like I should. It's my first baby and I'm too nervous about "raising it".

I need a few more books under my belt to "learn" how to write and maybe I can go back to my firstborn and revise it like it needs to be. So I am ruminating on a new idea, percolating scenes and characters, hoping to find a great story in the process.

While my first story was a medieval, my next will either be a contemporary or a Regency. I can't decide. I love Regency, but the research required scares me. Contemporary may be easier. Maybe not. But be sure, I will share stories of exploration in the different genres.

Yes, I'm the newbie in the Writer's Alley, so you will get my bumbling first attempts at....well, everything. I'll share my successes, my joys, my struggles, and my rejections. Oh yes...rejections are a part of the journey. At least that's what I'm told! It's all good, really! You gotta find the fun in all aspects of the journey, because life's too short to be wearing your Cranky Pants all the time! (I try to keep those cranky pants tucked away in the closet, but they tend to make an appearance every now and then!)

I've got a question for you:  How new to the journey are you? Are you at the starting line? Have you stopped along the way? Or are you at the finish line and received the prize of publication? How long has your journey taken?

Sherrinda