Twenty years in the making

     Since EV "went public" a few months ago, people have been asking me how long I worked on it, or how I got started. I honestly wasn't sure, because it's been part of my life, off and on, for such a long time. I know that I created Maggie as a character about my age, and she is 28. So I looked back today at the computer journal I kept when I was 28, and there were the entries I made when this novel was just a seed of an idea sprouting in my brain. It seems almost like another person who wrote those entries. Knowing that the finished product weighs in at a hefty 620 pages, it's funny to read about my struggle to reach the goal of 150 pages. 
     I began the project soon after losing my job as a reporter. The idea of writing fiction emerged, in part, as a way to fill the writing void I was experiencing. But I also had a toddler to look after, and soon another baby was on the way. My priority in life was to be the best mom I could be, and that meant putting my manuscript on the shelf, sometimes for months at a time. I don't regret that in the least. Five years into the project I decided to pursue a teaching career. A few years after that I went after my Masters in teaching. I changed jobs four times and raised two boys.
    So while I would have liked to finish the project sooner, I don't I regret that it took so long. It unfolded the way it was meant to, along with the other important developments in my life, and I wouldn't change a thing.