One Year Ago...

One year ago... I never could have imagined the journey that was just over the horizon. At that time my health was, for me, fair. Life was pretty settled. Routines were years old.

That all changed.

Today as I type this, I feel as if life is settling back down, routines aren't quite back in place, but we're getting there... and my health is, for me, once again fair.

One year ago... I hadn't ever reached the mindset to attempt the ending of Book Five of It's Just Us Here. That ending was hard to write and very emotional and, honestly, I don't know that I ever would have had the guts to write it.

But as I type this, the ending is in place and Book Five is almost ready for beta readers.

One year ago... no one had seen a section of little memoirs other than me and (in some cases) Mark. As I type this, that number has grown to about fifty and, oddly, it doesn't bother me that so many strangers have gotten to know me so intimately.

From the first time I started writing about my life, I knew why I was doing it... I just didn't think people would actually read it until long after I was dead.

One year ago... I had no plans of publishing this self-portrait. Yes... it was always in the background and I had been steadily working on it for about half a decade. But it wasn't a serious reality.

Then I went in the hospital and suddenly everything cleared up. What am I doing, I kept asking myself. I'm no different than my grandpa, who's photos melted in the house fire.

Last fall, in the midst of crisis, I set out to 'finish' two small sections of my memoir each month.

At that pace, I would have needed about three years to complete it... but it would have actually gotten done.

This was my 'denial phase'.

Then came the second stay in the hospital and everything fell apart. Before I had been so stubborn and kept working and kept worrying about other things that weren't important, but the second stay really broke my spirit. And my routines. Everything fell apart.

It seemed inevitable that this story would die with me, half-finished. Which wouldn't have been the worst thing because Book Five is a good ending point, but I'm really particular about certain things and I don't like anything to by asymmetrical and the fact that I only had the first 50% done and NONE of the last 50% made my skin crawl.

Today, for maybe the first time, I can see the end of this project. I've spent the last six months working only on these books. I stopped working on my other projects last fall (though I did start another, related project at the same time). It's been exhausting to be so focused on one thing and to drill down into my own psyche.

But now I'm almost done!

Thank you to all my beta readers! You've made it easier for me to get to this point where I can breathe a small sigh of relief before tackling the last 15%. Without you, I would have been so anxious... about so many things.

I owe you so much more than you will ever know.

Thank you!

+++

One year ago... I never would have guessed that It's Just Us Here would be so close to completion.

And today, as I type this, we're officially on pace to have the entire series released in 2019. That seemed like such an ambitious goal when I laid it out last March... but here we are.

I plan to have the rest of this drafted by the end of October. Books Six and Seven will be out to betas by the end of November. I'll do a hard read-through of Books Eight, Nine and Ten before the new year.

Just watch me.

;)
See ya around,
Chris

As always, feel free to reach out if you want to beta read. Everyone who has commented has given good and appreciated advice. Thank you again, beta readers, your help and insight have made the manuscript so much stronger!