This is my first ever blog. I am so busy with work, home, hubby, and kids (although..hello.. they are 19 and 21-yet won't seem to leave). I have always been infected with the writing bug. When I was in third grade, I wrote full-length plays for the neighbor kids. I, of course, was the director. I went through a (ghastly) poetry period in my teens. When I look back on them now, a cold shudder runs down my back at the lengths I reached to rhyme. Then, real life hit. College, marriage, kids, work. I almost stopped writing entirely. The one good thing, however, is that I never, ever quit reading. One rule that I have had for the last twenty-two years as a Radiology Technologist, is that my lunch time is sacred. I did not eat lunch in the cafeteria, or the break room to gossip and fellowship. I read. That was my time. I always, always had a book on me. Now I have my family (at least partially) raised. (Again, excepting those two grown men whom my husband and I can't seem to dislodge from the house). I started writing again a couple of years ago, but nothing ever really gelled. I was working in my garage, my two pre-teen nieces helping me. To distract them from the cobwebs and dust, I began telling them a story that had been wallering (Yep, we say wallering in the South.) around in my brain. The story was about a girl named Hope, who did some really cool things. At the end, the thirteen year old told me (in the uber-dramatic way of tweens) that I had to write it down. They absolutely loved it, and could not wait to hear what happened next. I did a mental palm smack to the forehead. I had never even thought of writing for young people. I began several months ago, and it has been such a rewarding experience. Hope and all the other characters are coming alive under my fingers. It's actually kind of weird. Ya'll know what I mean, I am sure. How some of these characters end up on the page without you even making them up. I am fortunate enough to have Susanne Dunlap as a coach and mentor. She is amazing, and is helping me so, so much. I realize that I may never be published. I know zero about the publishing world. I appreciate any tiny bits of advice that comes my way. You ladies are such an inspiration to me..Just a little ole' southern gal. (Little, of course, being a relative term.)