Her favorite words seem to be, "Route recalculation", which got me to thinking about the similarity between driving with a GPS - and life.
I know, it's probably this weird writer mind that causes such odd explosions of thought. But doesn't life force us into lots of route recalculations?
Just like the new "one way" signs or the construction barriers or the police investigations cause detours in our travel, certain realities make us change our life plans.
For instance, I wanted to be a reporter. Unfortunately, my parents listened to my high school counselor who said, "She's too smart for college." Seriously, he did. Thus my parents talked me into waiting until after Grade 13 to make a decision.
Route recalculation.The next thing I knew, I was married and had kids. Mortgage to pay. A job as a reporter didn't seem to pay enough. I opted for security over creativity and became a teacher. In the early seventies, it seemed the thing for a married woman to do. However, I could do my writing part-time: summers, weekends, other holidays. I published a number of short stories and made outlines for the novels that would surely follow.
Sometimes, though, marriages do not work out. Single parenthood takes a bit more time and energy than one would imagine.
You got it: Route recalculation.
Years later, several short stories and poems in small magazines, I find retirement. A time of renewal and determination to finish those novels. Although submissions wend their way up the publication chain, they don't get far enough. I get very close, a horseshoe that skids up to the ringer but doesn't embrace it. Route recalculation.
Self-publishing was not a horrendous experience. I sold quite a few books and gained a passel of fans. But I never reached anywhere near a global audience. Then suddenly, Imajin Books came along. I sent the acquisitions editor a copy of each of my books. She sent a contract.
Oh, glorious route recalculation.
With Sweet Karoline, I feel as though I have hit my stride. As she gallops along, I hope she brings her sister Emily with her. And next comes Rosie. Whatever route recalculations are out there in my future, I'm ready to follow the unbeaten path. Gassed up and ready, so to speak.
Go to my website and see all the books there. Karoline and Emily, that is. Rosie's not finished yet!
If you can fill in this blank (it's a sentence on the website), email me with the answer and I will gift you your choice of one of the ebooks.
Get ...... on the Emily Taylor Mysteries!
Talk to you later! I'm off to hear some lovely words at the Scene of the Crime festival on Wolfe Island.
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