As I sit in my favorite chair, drinking coffee and working on my current novel, I realize I’m truly blessed. Although this year has been challenging, I have a loving family, great friends, and a supportive writers group, albeit online for the time being.

Writing never came easy. In fact, it had been elusive. A foreign concept. A path I didn’t start until 2011. Before then I watched movies, played sports, and traveled the world in the Navy.

Being an author is something that always appealed to me, but never took seriously. Then one day back in 2011 a fellow Master Chief, Herb Kelton, challenged me to write a book. At first, I declined. But then the idea sparked a sentence. The sentence evolved into a paragraph which turned into a chapter.  Four months later I completed the first draft. Not great, but a start. The second draft looked better, but still not right. Then I got a publisher, woohoo, I’m done, right?

Not even close. They assigned me an editor and the tedious process of change, aka, hell began. After several months of going back and forth the story that formed in my noggin became a polished reality.

I’ve published several more books over the years and endured the same process, albeit a little less painful. As writers, we grow, we learn, we get better. Whatever you’ve accomplished this year, I hope next year is much better. Happy writing.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.