A bittersweet day

If you’ve been around this site for any amount of time, then you know what today is. Today is what I consider to be my writing anniversary. It’s the anniversary of the day I came up with Devon, the boy who weaves visions, and Woven was born.

Woven was my first series, four books in all. The first one, Broken Patterns, was released in 2016. The final book, Falling from Grace, came out in 2020.

Normally, this would be where I’d post a link to the books. But as you might recall, earlier this year my publishing company dropped all of my books. 

Part of me wanted to just not mark this day at all. It’s hard not to feel like shit about this. My series was published, and now it’s not. That’s six years of work, from the first character creation to the last book publication. And now it’s out of print. 

For now. Check back with me next year. 

But it also felt disingenuous to ignore this anniversary. It felt ungrateful, too. If you’ll recall, I prayed for this story. I prayed and cast an offering of bread to the birds in my little town square. I prayed that this story would work. And, it did. 

Woven launched my writing career. If it hadn’t been published, I might never have written Station 86. I certainly never would have written AA. Having that first series published did more for my confidence as a writer than anything else. 

A writing career is rarely going to be a straight line or an upward climb. There are going to be unexpected setbacks that have nothing to do with your talent or perseverance. If the last decade of my life has taught me anything, it’s that there’s no such thing as having something on lock. Take a look in the mirror. The person looking back at you is the one and only thing can you can control.

This is true in all walks of life. But even more so when your career is based on the tastes of other people. 

I know that sounds bleak. And yeah, it kind of is. Being a creative is hard. You can work as hard as you can, pour yourself into your work and it still sometimes won’t be enough. 

This is why it’s so important to remember why you’re writing. 

Do you know why you’re writing? Take some time and think about it. You’ll probably come up with several answers. Here are mine. 

I enjoy writing.

I want to share my writing with people.

I need to write to get my thoughts straight. 

The world is on fire, and I’m not a fighter. I’m not a politician or a doctor or a teacher. If I’m going to make any difference in this world, it’s going to be by writing. If I can write I can maybe change people’s minds or inspire them to act. If I can’t do that, I can at least chronicle what I’m seeing. And if I can’t do that, I can at least write a story that might comfort someone during a dark time. 

Does that mean I don’t want to build a writing career? Hell no. I want to write full-time. I want to hit the best sellers’ lists and win awards. I want to travel all around America in a van and sell my books at little indie bookstores. I want to do a travelogue on Instagram and post pictures of me and Oliver eating ice cream in every state except Florida. I want to be able to commit all of my time to writing stories and exploring this world. 

But if I can’t do that, I’m at least going to write every day and share my little stories. Because in the end, that’s why I write. That’s why I’ll always write. No matter what 

Hopefully by this time next year, Woven will be in publication again. But whether it is or not, I’ll be here. And I hope you’ll be here with me. 

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