About Me

I’ve always been hesitant to call myself a writer. 

I’m not a best selling author who sits behind a grand mahogany desk as beautiful prose flows unbidden while I wait for my royalty checks to roll in. 

Rather I find time between working, parenting and all of life’s other obligations to squeeze in minutes of writing. 

And I absolutely love it. 

Perhaps that’s the true definition of a writer, someone who despite every excuse not to, makes the time to create, share and hopefully inspire with words.

So let’s start again. 

Hi, my name is Laura. 

I’m a writer.

Backstory

The first story I wrote was in 1st grade. 

It was written in a small red notebook with Donald Duck on the cover. The story centered around the trials of a dinosaur being confused with a chicken and the ensuing hilarity that only a six year old can create. 

I was given the notebook by my teacher, Ms. Strickland, who saw that reading and writing were my escape. An escape from a not so happy childhood. She encouraged me to create worlds, express myself and release feelings that I kept bottled up. 

Early on I realized the power of words. The ability they had to transport you to a time or place you had never been before. 

My favorite day was library day where I would settle into the red, white and blue rocket ship adorned with soft pillows and get swept away into new worlds. 

As the years went on, my love of language grew. 

My dream was to major in English and become a teacher and an author. 

But dreams and reality don’t always line up. 

Outside of a few small scholarships, the burden of the cost of college fell upon me. I took out student loans and knew that graduating with an English degree would not allow me the ability to make the money I needed to pay them off while starting out my life. 

I changed my major to business with an emphasis on marketing and HR. 

For the first time, writing took a backseat as I juggled full time school with full time work.

Journey Forward

I made a promise to myself that I would go back to pursue writing at some point in my life and in 2010 I attended DePaul University for my graduate degree in literature. 

Once again I found myself juggling a full time job and school but this time was different. I loved everything about the program. I was reading two novels a week, conducting research and writing every day. 

Upon graduation, I received an adjunct teaching position at a local community college. It was wonderful. Except the pay. 

And when you are newly married, looking to buy a house and start a family, money matters.

I had to keep my HR job to supplement my income. 

When my husband and I moved to a new state, I had the option of taking a low paying teaching job or a high paying HR job. I took the HR job. I told myself it would only be for a short period of time. Years passed. 

Then came along health issues, our son and the pandemic.

The trifecta of chaos.

In order to deal with it all, I turned to writing. 

Those years were so hard but were also pivotal to me finding my way back to where I needed to be.

Where to Now

As we get older, time hits differently. In our youth we feel like there’s an endless supply of tomorrows. Then we start to realize the finiteness of them. 

For me this happened around 40. I remember being 20 and thinking how at 40 I would have life figured out (if anyone knows when this does happen, let me know!) but instead found myself going through each day on autopilot wishing for something different. 

I decided to actively make changes that would advance me in the direction of my childhood dreams. While I still had all the responsibilities of life, I started prioritizing my writing. I enrolled in courses, became part of a writing critique group and began setting writing goals for myself. 

Over the past couple of years I have had my work published both online and in book anthologies. 

Yet, my dream of writing a book kept getting pushed off to later. 

When I had more time. 

When my son became independent. 

When work calmed down. 

When _____.

There will always be something to fill in the blank.

I finally reached a point where the want of writing my own book became a need. 

No more excuses, no more waiting and no more questioning myself. 

I am going to DO rather than try. 

On one hand this blog is for me. To keep myself accountable.

On the other hand it’s for anyone who has a backburner dream. The one that has been pushed off but still burns within you. 

Perhaps my journey, my words, my successes and my failures will inspire you to take that leap and stop waiting for tomorrow. 

So let’s turn the page and see what the next chapter has in store!

~Laura The Writer