the change

Not THE change. Been there, done that.  I've been hinting at a change for months now, and I don't want to leave you without a few words.

An enormous sea change has been washing onto my writer's shore all year, ever since Thanksgiving, when I sat down after a lovely family dinner, and made some decisions, wrote them down in my notebook, and have been consistently working toward them all year.

Going to the Philippines in March pushed me further along the tide of change. Surfing through the busiest travel spring I have ever had brought me fully onto shore. 

I've been slowly disconnecting from the buzz of children's publishing and have found a haven in my own purple room, pink chair, house with the chartreuse trim, and all the stories that are waiting to be told. After ten years of constant travel and talk and dreaming, I'm directing my energies inward and becoming a full-time writer as much as I can, which means I've disconnected from most distractions, even the lovely ones.

Thank you, faithful readers. I've appreciated more than you know your presence in this space with me, and your notes of love and encouragement, and the sharing of struggles as well. I'm leaving this space for now, and the blog will go dark. I could spend lots of space and words telling you why, but the long-and-short is: I'm going to spend all my writing energy... writing.

The blog was a wonderful four-year experiment. I started it at Harcourt's urging when The Aurora County All-Stars was about to be published. I've watched it morph and change over the years. As the blog morphed, it became a personal scrapbook more than a book and writing blog, and I allowed that, to see where it was taking me... it became a way to tell stories, which is what I do.

So I am off to tell them, at the desk, or in the pink chair, on the page, in my heart, with that list of stories as long as my arm. That list! It's calling me. And I have been answering: yes. Yes. Yes.

I won't forget your many kindnesses to me. And... I'm here. I'm just one more step removed from the beautiful mayhem of the publishing world, and one step closer to discovering the heart of the stories I want to share. It's such a privilege to be able to do what I do for a living. I have appreciated every single step along the way. And I appreciate, likewise, this new day upon a new shore, as I take my first strong steps into a new life.

Peace to you, friends, and love. Always, love. xo Debbie