Never Settle, Never Give Up
It’s easy to look at someone else’s achievements and think, “Why can’t I do that?” The reasons are strikingly universal. Most say time is the biggest constraint. You would reach your dreams, if you had more time. The second reason is always money. If you had an extra $1000 lying around, you would be able to invest in those special running shoes, software, attend the conference, or travel to your dream destination.
When my second child was born, I had a mini midlife crisis also known as turning 30. While I loved my kids, devoting every waking thought to their needs prevented me from creating dreams of my own. No matter what, those calendar pages kept turning regardless of what I did with the day. The time to accomplish amazing things while I still had my health and energy felt like it swiftly running out.
I had time. It was fragmented, erratic, and often disrupted time, but it was time. My needs weren’t expensive, all I required was my own overactive imagination and a library card.
That dream? Write a book.
I know how cliché it sounds. I also know just how important books have been in my life. Books filled my imagination as a child. They were friends during my very awkward teenage years. They granted me an escape when I was an adult.
The day came when I picked up a book everyone raved about and instead of finding escape, I found inspiration. I could do this. I could write a book that had all the things I loved; danger, adventure, noble heroes, magic, and secrets.
Turns out writing a book is easy. I had my first manuscript finished in little over a year all while being a full-time mom, and the book stunk. Writing a good book – that’s what’s hard. The thing I created had so many problems in it. Enough that it scared me to try to fix them. I took a break, had my third child, and did what lots of creative moms ended up doing in 2010, blogging.
It took years to summon up the courage to tear apart the book I had worked so hard to create and put it back together with the skills I had learned about the craft. The funny thing about time is that it changes you. I was a more mature, more confident person when I returned to my story. I was ready.
Another year of work, squeezed in the cracks of time between preschool drop offs and after school chaos, and my book was ready to find a home. Finding a publisher took a year. From contract to launch day took another year. Authors are the world’s most patient people in this regard.
Today, I look back and am nothing but proud. I have my book in my hands, sequels well underway, conference gigs booked, short stories in printed collections, and a whole lot of possibility before me.
Don’t wait for the perfect time to work for your dreams. If you want it enough, you will find the time.
Bio:
Jodi L. Milner is the author of the young adult noble dark fantasy Stonebearer’s Betrayal as well as speculative short stories appearing in numerous anthologies and SQ Magazine. She is a firm believer that life is what you make it and she intends to make it a good one. She is an avid student of the interesting and obscure and has an unhealthy fascination with medical science. This path led to her working professionally in both human and animal medicine. These days she raises a pair of cranky chickens and is interested in taking up exotic animal rescue, much to her husband’s horror. She makes her home in the mountains of Utah.
Links:
Website: http://JodiLMilner.com
https://twitter.com/JodiLMilner
https://www.facebook.com/JodilMilnerAuthor/
https://www.instagram.com/jodi.l.milner/
https://www.amazon.com/Stonebearers-Betrayal-Jodi-L Milner/dp/1732467447
