Has it really been two months already since I declared my intention to have a manuscript ready to go? Yikes! Well, I didn’t make all my edits in time for WriteOnCon, but I will be attending anyway. I learned so much last year and I am eager to soak up the knowledge of industry pros again this year.

That being said, I’m not giving up on my work-in-progress. My YA fantasy novel, Fire & Sand, is a story that has not let me go since I began writing it. Along the way it has evolved several times over; sometimes I feel like my edits are just catching up with the most recent evolution, but it has been steadily (if slowly) becoming its truest self. Each draft has led me deeper into the world, closer to the characters, and more eager to have the final version ready to share. I’m closer now than I ever have been before and that knowledge (plus invaluable guidance and support from critique partners) propels me forward. The feeling is exhilarating.

It is times like this when I can affirm all over again that yes, this is exactly what I should be doing.