Something More

There’s a song I love by Sugarland called Something More. ��It’s a great song about life and living it the way it’s meant to be lived. ��There has to be more than the daily rush and hustle. ��These lyrics have always stood out to me:

Some believe in destiny and some believe in fate

But I believe that happiness is something we create

You best believe that I’m not gonna wait.

Ever since I began working for myself as an independent author, I’ve never been happier. ��I’ve waited my entire life to really learn to love myself. ��In college, the thought of being alone with my mind and my thoughts was terrifying. ��I wasn’t happy with me. ��I had no idea where I was going or what I was going to do. ��I thought I’d never figure it out.

Now, as I approach my 27th birthday in nine short days (agh!), I find myself looking forward to the future, able to spend countless hours by myself (and enjoy them), and most importantly, I’m still determined to work and make things happen. ��Perhaps more so than ever.

I used to think that the best thing about writing was that I got to create worlds and characters and stories that I wanted to see and know and read. ��Believe me, those are still some of my very favorite things in the world and I have so many worlds and characters and stories in my head that need to get out and onto paper. ��But I’ve had so many people just this week reading��Between Worlds and telling me, “I’ve missed your characters! ��I can’t wait to find out what happens next!”

That, my friends, is the coolest thing ever. ��It not only reassures me that I’ve written something that is worth reading and enjoyable, but it makes me miss my characters, too. ��I’ve taken some time off from the next��Cemetery Tours��to work on my new YA novel/NaNo project, but I really do miss Michael and Kate and Luke and Brink. ��I can’t forget about them. ��And I won’t.

As much as I love those characters, however, they’re not alone inside my head. ��Along with the rest of the��Cemetery Tours��series and��Boy Band,��I have at least three more series and five stand alone novels in my head right now. ��If at all possible, I’d like to get them out sooner rather than later.

For some reason, I’ve always had it in my head that I can only do one book a year, but the more I read about other independent writers, the more I realize that’s simply not the case. ��I could probably easily produce four or five high quality books in a year. ��I’ve always been a big believer that more often than not, the only thing standing in your way is that little voice inside your mind telling you that you can’t. ��You can’t. ��It won’t work. ��It’s impossible. ��The mind is a powerful thing and I believe that it can hold you back. ��This year, I’m going to do my best to remind myself that I can. ��Great things are so possible. ��Too many people who’ve gone before us have already proven that. ��Who are we to believe otherwise?

PS – I’m adding this picture in because posts always look better with pictures than without.