A Resolution to Write

Tucked away on my list of new year’s resolutions in 2009 was a simple commitment: start writing. It landed somewhere between lose ten pounds and stop chewing nicotine gum. It would reappear on my lists for another six years before I did anything about it.

I had intended to be a writer all along, but life doesn’t always go according to plan. I had a busy career, a failed marriage, and a son to raise by the time I made that commitment to write again. Perhaps you can relate.

Starting took some effort. It had been decades since studying literature in school, and the writing I did for my day job didn’t really count. I started with a few online classes, trying both fiction and non-fiction to see what held my interest.

When I had the opportunity to take a workshop with one of my favorite authors, I jumped at the chance. It was part of Woodstock Bookfest, an annual three-day event in upstate New York. The workshop was incredibly helpful, and so were the many panels I attended.

At one of those panels, an author spoke about her debut mystery novel and all the support she received from an organization called Sisters in Crime. I had always been a fan of mysteries; I read two or three books in that genre every week. But writing a mystery? I wasn’t sure about that. Although a mystery did seem right for a character who’d been haunting my thoughts for a while. To my surprise, a story began unveiling itself that evening.

Back home in northern Kentucky, I looked up Sisters in Crime, joined, and connected to the chapter closest to me. It’s ironic that a book festival in the Catskills led me to the Derby Rotten Scoundrels in Louisville, Kentucky, but life is like that. This year, my resolution is to finish my first draft of that story. I still haven’t lost the ten pounds or given up nicotine gum, but thanks to my Louisville Sisters in Crime, I’m damn close to writing the last chapter.