Changing Tides

I feel like most of my posts recently have been of the "update" variety in recent weeks. My apologies. I'm trying to do better, I swear! But the past few weeks have been a whirlwind of changes that have kept me away from not only Jello World, but From the Write Angle, my friends and crit group at Agent Query Connect, and my writing in general.

First, my husband received an unexpected promotion at work, which came with an unexpected transfer across the state. It was only about two and a half weeks from the time we learned that he'd definitely gotten the promotion and his first day in the new place. So in that short period of time we had lots to do. Get our house ready to put on the market, and get me mobile.

If you've been reading this blog for a while, or if you know me personally, you may be aware that I've had a slight phobia of driving for a while. I never learned to drive when I was a teen, and after a while I had resolved to never learn. There was a lot of fear surrounding the act of attempting to control a motor vehicle for me. You can read a little about it in my May 2008 post, Facing Down the Fear. That was when I first tried to learn to drive. Needless to say, it didn't work out very well, and I did not get my license at that time.

Last October I renewed my permit to try again because I would need it for a job that I had started. It went a lot better this time around. When we learned of my husband's transfer, it became evident that I would be here for several weeks on my own while he went on ahead to start working and to find us a place to live. Suddenly I had a deadline. Not only did I need to get my license ASAP, I needed a car of my own. And guess what? I got both! I got my license on May 3rd, and we bought my car the week before that.

It's surreal. I'm twenty-eight years old and I'm experiencing a whole new level of freedom. I'm able to drive myself to and from work now, and my husband doesn't have to worry about me being here on my own because I can do everything for myself. I don't have to depend on anyone else to get around. When the move is final, I'll have a wealth of new job possibilities because I won't be restricted by distance.

Since my husband is already on the other side of the state, I've been taking care of a lot of things around the house. Paint, new carpet, major cleaning, and packing up stuff that we don't need to keep in the house at the moment. The house goes on the market this week and hopefully we'll be able to sell it quickly. Everything else has been going so smoothly, so hopefully this will also.

Okay, enough of that! One thing I do want to mention is that fellow writer and FTWA crew member Robert  Lewis is also blogging for the new Macmillan site Criminal Element. Even if you don't read/write crime or mystery, you'll enjoy Robert's current series of posts, Bar Noir. Parts one and two are up, and part three will be up Sunday. The old book covers pictured in the articles is reason enough to read. He uses a story to discuss pulp fiction writers - which really isn't a genre I read, but his voice has spunk and panache, and makes me want to read some of the authors he mentions. Be sure to check it out, and be on the lookout for other posts from him!