This blog has been quiet while I have wrestled with whether I want to continue writing at all. When I started writing here in 2018, it was a place to tell stories about my travels for friends and family to enjoy.

Since then it has evolved into a daily creative and accountability exercise. Lots of strangers have found their way here and become new friends. I hold myself accountable to show up every day and write something or to at least match a quote with an original picture of interest.

I took a break, thinking it would last for three days, but the respite has stretched into weeks. The more distance I put between me and writing, the less I missed it. I also journaled less and spent absolutely no time thinking about other types of writing besides what I do for work.

My brain felt tired and I was lacking in motivation.

Then something special happened. I received some encouragement from an author I admire. William Kent Krueger spoke Saturday at the West Virginia Book Festival. If you aren’t familiar, he is a New York Times bestseller and popular mystery writer. Known for his Cork O’Connor mystery series, as well as three fabulous stand alone books, he earned a spot in my heart with This Tender Land. If you haven’t read it, you should.

On Saturday, he talked about how he became a writer, crediting his parents for reading to him as a child and encouraging him to understand that there are no limits when it comes to storytelling.

He talked about his career, his failures and second chances. He wanted to write the great American novel but couldn’t find his voice so he just stopped writing.

He didn’t write a thing for years.

Then one day, he woke up in middle age and decided that he was going to write again. This time it wouldn’t be a botched great American novel. It would be something people would actually want to read. He got a laugh at that comment! So he did something unexpected. He embraced the Mystery genre even though he had never read a mystery before in his life.

After a grueling period of daily writing and stretching to find his voice, Cork O’Connor was born. This character would elevate the writer Kent Krueger to the New York Times Bestselling Author William Kent Krueger, making him a household name for readers far beyond his chosen genre.

I’m sad to say that I didn’t discover his work until he published This Tender Land a few years ago. This stand alone book captivated my imagination and won a spot on my bookshelf as an all time favorite.

This is what brought me to the room where Kent (he asked us to call him Kent!) told his own story.

He spoke about writing with a sense of profound joy, inspiring me to go home and write something of my own.

He seems like a common guy, reminding me of some librarian friends and a little of a favorite college English professor. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to sit in a writing class with him!

It ended all too quickly but he did sign books afterward and you can believe I took my two favorites to be personalized. I used my time in front of him wisely and acted like a fan girl as he signed my books. I let him know how much I love his writing and that he made me want to go home and write. That caught his attention and he asked some questions and offered encouragement.

He encouraged me to not let my writing projects at work sour me or get in the way of writing for myself. He advised writing every day and working to find my voice. When he worked a regular job, Kent said he got up early every day to write for an hour before work.

This advice makes sense to me because it would give a writer an opportunity to use their authentic voice before venturing out into a noisy world that insists on crushing our individuality.

I walked away knowing that I wanted to accept his advice.

My first act is to try reviving this blog because I need the accountability exercise. The next step is to dust off my journal because journaling is akin to a daily tidying routine for my mind.

The fiction piece is harder. I have a writing project in mind and it’s manageable. There’s another writing project that is less manageable. While we were out book browsing after the festival, I procured a book of writing prompts to help establish what I hope will be a morning writing exercise habit. I’m not a morning person so this may get shifted to another time of day to humor my morning failings.

I can at least try.

Something else I need to work on is my inability to call myself a writer. When one of my favorite writers took an interest in me and asked if I’m a writer too, I honestly didn’t know what to say. So I stammered out some nonsense about how I write but am not really a writer. In my mind, I just scribble and have never written anything that really mattered.

Yet, my professional resume includes writer/editor positions and two other jobs where writing has been a central responsibility. Personally, I practice writing here, drop thoughts in a journal and occasionally work on a short story.

I shared this with someone important to me the other day. He aptly responded “that means you’re a writer.”

And so it goes.

Will I ever be a writer like Kent Krueger? Not a chance. The man is brilliant. However, I will enjoy the journey as I work to improve myself. In this results oriented world, we forget sometimes that there’s merit in simply bettering ourselves – even when no one less is looking.

Meanwhile, I’ll see you back here tomorrow morning.