Reflections

As we enter our final week on Peanut Butter on the Keyboard, we’ve invited one of our longtime contributors, USA Bestselling author Kieran Kramer, to stop by and share a few final thoughts. Kieran was my first link to the blog. After a guest post she was the one who invited me to join as a full-time contributor. I’ve always loved and admired her warmth and perspective. It’s a special treat to bask in a little more of her wisdom as we enter our final week, rather like a warm hug from a dear friend.

So…no more prelude needed. This is where I hush and K takes over. Here she is :)

I remember that I wanted to start a blog for moms who were also writers when I saw another group of women embarking on something similar here at Peanut Butter on the Keyboard. I asked them if I could join them instead of going off on my own, and they kindly said yes.

That yes—and my experience here–validated my belief that writers who are also nurturers can do so much when we band together! We’re an invincible force. We’re also each other’s comfort and support. We’re truth speakers, too, for each other.

Being able to come here and share honest moments with you about my life as a mother and writer meant the world to me. It was honest-to-God therapy. I hope that in some small way, my sharing also brought you a measure of whatever it was you needed that day to get by.

And now PBOK is closing shop. But there’s a season for everything, right? No time for regrets, only fond memories of how amazing this site was. And then we need to remember, always, that something new lies around the corner for everyone who’s ever come here, every day.

In my own life, I’m turning lots of corners currently. My writing interests are evolving, and my reasons for writing are changing. At first, I just damned well wanted to get published, to share a story with the world and entertain people.

Well, that goal’s been met. “Let’s go deeper,” my soul is whispering. “What do you really want to say? How does the experience of living as a fairly well educated woman in the 21st century in a small town in Summerville, South Carolina, with a US Navy Reservist husband, three kids, a large extended family, cats and dogs who are like people to you, and various quirky-smart friends matter? What do you know about life that you can share in your stories? And not just for the readers? But for you, Kieran?”

As I contemplate that broad shift in my thinking as a writer, my kids just won’t stop growing up, LOL!!! One’s already a college graduate, one’s about to graduate college, and one is a junior in high school. And I ask you the age-old question mothers always ask: where did the time go? How did these little babies become these wonderful big people?

My time with my children is the most precious gift God’s ever given me (my husband gets it—he knows how important he is to me, too). And I wonder: what should I do with the fact of this incredible blessing? I can’t just sit here and say, “Wow, I’m lucky I got to be my children’s mother.” Something in me is urging me to pass the blessing on somehow, to show thanks outwardly, to give back.

So how do I do that when this golden era of childrearing is drawing to a close? How will YOU handle it when your children leave, as they should?

And how will we all handle it when PBOK ends?

This is what I believe about endings to excellent eras in our lives:

Be a happy camper. How could we not be when we’ve been so lucky? We’re not gonna whine about the old times and how much better they are than now. We’re not going to become old sourpusses. That’s ungrateful. I refuse to forget how fortunate I’ve been as a mother and as a writer and visitor to this blog of warm, welcoming people. Let’s celebrate the many wins in our lives!


Enjoy the fruits of our labors. Hey, I’ll love watching my children live their lives. I’ll revel in their ability to make their own decisions. And we should, all of us who’ve come here to PBOK, sigh a great sigh of pride and satisfaction that our words live here on the internet permanently. Maybe some despairing mom and/or writer will stumble across them just when they need to!!! And if they don’t, I know for a fact that there are people who’ve come here who’ve incorporated bits and pieces of wisdom found here into their own lives. Ahem, I’m one of them!! (raising my hand high). I’ve learned so much here, and I’ve used that wisdom many times over. Thanks, bloggers and readers!


Start a new thing—a “pay-attention-to-myself-again” thing. Okay, so maybe for me it’s time to get to yoga again now that the kids are more into their own lives. And for all of us at PBOK, we now have extra time away from the computer to figure out new ways to be good to ourselves, or pick up old, good habits that we’ve neglected.


Be open to new “golden eras”…maybe for me that will involve embracing being a grandmother one day. Or maybe it’s falling even more deeply in love with my husband than I ever thought possible, finding new nuances to romance, to selflessness, to the beautiful reality of love’s potential.


Never believe the best is behind me, ever. Yes, bringing up my kids has been a tremendous gift. And PBOK has been But life goes on. Life’s about change and growth. Let’s get excited about how we evolve!!!

I respect you all. I love you all. I wish you peace and joy.

Kieran XOXO

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USA Today bestselling author Kieran Kramer currently writes fun contemporary romance for St. Martin’s Press. Her most recent release, YOU’RE SO FINE, was named a Best Book of the Month in romance in December 2014. A former journalist and English teacher, Kieran’s also a game show veteran, karaoke enthusiast, and general adventurer. She lives where she grew up-in the Lowcountry of South Carolina-with her family. Find her on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and at kierankramerbooks.com.