Hello, friends! It has been a long time since my last update, and I’ve taken a much needed break from the blogging world. In recent days, the whole world has been grappling with time, intentions, and priorities. The world we live in right now bears little existence to the one we were in just a few short months ago. And it gives us all the opportunity for thought.

How are we spending our time?

Are we making room for the important things?

When the hustle and bustle of life is cleared away, what’s left?

As hard as our current situation is, it’s giving us the gift of renewal. Right now, it’s important to keep our heads above water amidst the changes, but it’s equally important to take time to consider and to dream. And it’s a good chance to say, do I want life to go back to *normal* or do I want it to look a little different?

I’ve been considering these very questions. And here’s what I’ve come up with so far…

Recently, I completed work on my first novel called The Art of New Beginnings. After rounds of editing, I began querying and exploring the publishing world. I didn’t get any offers for now, but I got some great feedback, which means making some revisions to enhance my story.

At first, it was disappointing to hear “no” after pouring myself into my book. But eventually I had to consider: am I writing to “sell” something, or because I had a story to tell and a goal I wanted to accomplish? Turns out, it’s the latter.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m going to keep working hard on it and I still really want this book to be published. But for a couple of months, I spent so much time researching, and querying, and promoting… that I didn’t do any reading OR any writing. And I finally realized it was making me out of balance.

So I’ll be working on the revisions this summer to make my novel even better. Perhaps it’ll eventually get traditionally published, perhaps I’ll decide to self publish. But in the meantime, I will cherish it. I will keep jotting down ideas and scenes for future projects.

I will keep finding great books…. I will read them, I will get some pictures out on Bookstagram, and I will review some of them here. But I miss my book community and I’m resurfacing because I’ve realized this is one of my important things.

In this season of renewal, are you having similar conversations with yourself? How are you feeling about your priorities? What are you realizing you need to add to your life, or start leaving out?

For now… I’m off to finish reading a lovely novel. And I’ll see you all very soon, book friends!