Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

If you drive through your town, around 6pm-8pm, I’ll tell you what you’ll find. Passing by each house, 50 percent of your view will be of mothers inside their kitchens, washing the dishes, or a father clearing the dining room table from the evening meal. It’s a simple life, one worth repeating day after day. It’s the dream – to grow a family, to raise them and care for them. To make your house a home is the highest of honors you can reward yourself. But, as you’re living the same routine and watching those who are as well, do you think to yourself, “this can’t be the rest of my life,”?

It’s a “lather, rinse, repeat” cycle. I am guilty of once having this feeling, and I’m positive I’m not alone. There was a time in my life where all I wanted was to be a mother and a devoted wife. I wanted that happily ever after . . . and I got it. But as human-beings, it’s natural to want something more, to crave it. It is also normal to not. For those that do, we scramble to find that thing that’ll feed our soul and give us a sense of purpose beyond family. It took me a long time to realize what I wanted from myself.

For a long time, I followed my husband’s lead, helping him achieve his goals, bring light into his life, while at the same time, allowing my children to be raised as respectful, aspiring young people, mothering them the best way I know how. But as I washed the dishes my husband would hand me, as I folded the laundry my husband would put away for me, I felt . . . lost. Empty. Hallow. Like the missing puzzle piece that’s been stuck under the couch for years.

Reading had been my escape. Diving into someone else’s created world had satisfied me for a short time. Until it didn’t. Stories started forming in my own head while driving to daycare, characters started gathering personalities as I worked my day job, and plots started forming as I cooked our evening meal. I was tired of lathering, rinsing, and repeating.

One night, I sat down and demanded my dreams, my thoughts, my “free time,” have a purpose. Without a second thought, I began writing. And writing. And writing. A few months later, my first book came out. And a few months after that, an entire series.

This was a dream I didn’t know I was capable of. I feel accomplished, though I have much more to gain, learn, and achieve. I challenged myself to a duel, and I won. There is no greater prize than seeing my dream sitting a computer screen, on a library shelf, or on a book store stand. My thoughts, my characters, that thing that fed my soul, is now available for others.

It is my hope, for those that are reading this, to never subject yourself to the “lather, rinse, repeat.” You have so much more to offer yourself, so much more to gain. You can dream big, because you lack absolutely nothing. You, and only you, are the key to your own success. If you want something, work like hell to get it. March toward that finish line, learn along the way, slay the dragons that spout fire in the attempts to stop your goals, and take your prize.

Because you’re worth it. You deserve it. And you are no quitter.

Now! On to a little update. Rise of the Realms, Book One has a title: Reborn. If you haven’t read the last book in the Cloven Pack Series, you may want to. Just to make sure you don’t feel entirely lost as you begin reading my next series. I am still making my cover and will reveal that within the coming weeks.

Reborn, Rise of the Realms (Book One), is a complicated little number. I’ve never read a book the way I am writing it. I had an idea, and I’ve stuck with it. Being as this book is being told by half a dozen characters, it is taking a while to finish. But I do believe it is over half-way done. My hopes is to have it out in December, but we shall see.

Pretty soon here I will give you a little snippet! I promise!

Other works: I wrote a short story the other day and entered it into a Halloween boxset contest. It’s of a true story, and a scary one at that. Please, keep a look out for more info coming soon!

For now, that is all! I hope you are all having a wonderful week so far!

OH! and if you’re looking for a binge-worthy T.V. show. . . Salem on Netflix – you can’t go wrong.

Tootles!

D.