Coming Sometime Soon…

I set two goals for myself this year. Two goals that felt impossibly difficult. Two things that would only happen if I worked my butt off, pushed myself beyond my limits and, on top of all of that, got incredibly lucky.

Two months into the year and I have somehow accomplished both of them. Talk about your first world problems.

 Here were my goals:

1. Write something so amazing that Jen from PIWTPITT would have no choice but to include me in I Just Want to Be Alone (did you buy it yet? No? Then go buy it and come back…we’ll wait.)
2. Become a Huffington Post blogger

I did it and I have never been so proud of myself. But now I need a new goal.

Amanda from Expat Life with a Double Buggy  invited me to take part in a blog hop where you share a bit about your writing style and habits and reveal what you are working on next. Her invitation hit at the perfect time – I needed a new plan and there is  nothing like public exposure to obligate me to do it. So here goes – a bit about me and a bit about my plans for the rest of the year.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

If you had asked me this back in November, I would have been hard-pressed to come up with a difference. I shared about my life, the ups and downs, but lots of people do that. As part of the process of writing my essay for the book, I had some hard conversations with two bloggers I really respect. Magnolia Ripkin, my blogging sister-wife and editoress extraordinaire, took me to task for my heavy-handed self-editing of really snarky content. Meredith from Bad Sandy, my blogging idol, reminded me that the story is more important than the funny. I changed my writing style, warned my family and started publishing content I was embarrassed to claim. The reaction was amazing! That is how I intend to differentiate myself, by adopting a no nonsense, no embarrassment, no sugar-coating storytelling style.

Why do I write what I do?

I mostly write about life as it happens to me. Sometimes. And sometimes I take something that happened in my life and create a tale around the core center of truth. And sometimes I just make things up (but it is really obvious when I am doing this.) Underneath all of the craziness lies the message that it is okay to be imperfect. It is okay to admit your failures. It is okay to remove yourself from the rat race and the competitive parenting forums that seem to be overrunning the world. It is okay to just be the best YOU you can be.

How does your writing process work?

Once in a while a post jumps into my head, fully formed and ready to be birthed out onto the computer screen. I love those occasions, but they are just that…occasions. The rest of the time I muddle over an idea for days, tossing and turning it in my mind, testing out sentences until I finally find something that works. And then I sit down and write. If I sit down to write without a clear idea, I tend to churn out crap. So it is best for all if I stick to the pre-thinking for as long as possible.

#1: What am I working on?

This was supposed to be the first question on the list, but I pushed it down to the bottom because I wanted to save the surprise. What is my next goal? Where is my attention going next? A BOOK! Yes, another book. I want to take the Oops I Did It Again concept and flesh it out into a full book about ME. Because I am awesome. I know. Once that is done (or until I get writer’s block), I want to finally get to work on my fiction chick lit novel. I have a fully formed idea in my head, several thousand words on a page and just need to time to sit down and write it all. With 10 months in front me, surely I’ll be able to find some space in there to work on it.

So that’s it!

Now I get to pass the torch along to another writer: Olga from The European Mama – Olga is a friend in real life, an awesome cook and a great writer. She is also one of my BLUNTie besties. Go and check out her site and tell her I said HELLO!