Why should I wait for the Novel?

Why do I write? Well… maybe I shouldn’t. 😏

But if you’re someone who devours audiobooks while chopping onions for the kids’ dinner, who falls asleep mid-chapter with a stupid grin because the story just landed right, who dog-ears a paperback in a dozen places over a single week and still leaves it open on the nightstand like an invitation for tomorrow, then yeah, you might get it.

I’m one of those people. The one who listens for two straight hours in the kitchen, headphones in, stirring sauce on autopilot while the characters argue in my ears. The one who smiles into the pillow at 1 a.m., knowing full well the alarm is set for 6:45 (to get my kids to school on time). The ones who finish a book and immediately start mentally rewriting the ending, wondering why the author chose that path when something would’ve hit harder.

That’s the crowd I belong to. That’s the kinship I feel.

And that’s exactly why I write.

Not for fame (One book isn't going to do that!) or a big advance (Again, nope) or a perfect Goodreads score (Ok, I've absolutely love that for ever and ever). I write because I want to make one of those stories. The kind that sneaks under your skin, lingers after the last page, and makes you pause in the middle of whatever you are doing and think "I really want to finish that story".

I write to see if I actually have the chops (So true!): the patience to build worlds, the skills for rhythm in dialogue, the guts to let characters make messy, human choices. I write to find out if I can give someone else that same late-night grin, that same reluctant dog-ear, that same feeling when the book ends.

Here is the feeling - Aaaaaarrrrrrhhhhh... When's the next coming out!!!!! Hurry your ass up!

Mostly, I write because I’m still that reader who secretly wishes the story had gone just a little differently… and now I get to try.

So yeah. That’s why. No grand manifesto. Just the facts.

If you’re one of us, welcome.

If not… well, maybe stick to Netflix. It’s safer. 😉

What about you? What keeps you turning pages, or picking up the pen?

I’d love to hear.

In the end, I only want my endless hours of work to put a smile on someone's face.

So true.