I woke up early enough for this day to be completely productive. It’s my only day off this week and I intend to make the most of it. I have a big decision to make. Well, it’s not that big but I think the implications will be huge. My goal in life is to write. Nothing else is in my heart as far as careers go. I am a good teacher but that’s not what drives me. I was born to write and my ultimate goal is to do nothing but write. Period. End of story. So, if I’m offered an opportunity to teach temporarily, make less money than I’m making now, commute 30 minutes one way and take away availability from the job that sustains me, do I take that? Back in July when I got the temporary position I thought the three months would be filled with plenty of time for writing. However, what really ended up happening was that I had less time and energy to write because I was working forty hours every week and the job was very stressful. I also took that job home with me. I worried about the kids and I found myself thinking about how I could help them improve their lives. Teaching is noble work but it’s not what I really want.

I feel like this is the time to get Lives Lived out into the world. I believe God led me to Utah so I could start a new life. I’ve been here a year now and I’ve made good strides but there is still work to do. I came here to write. The teaching thing is something to fall back on in the meantime but unless there is a full-time position, I don’t know that it is worth me taking on a teaching job at this time. If I’m working two jobs and making the same or less income as I did at one…that makes no sense.

The real question is am I ready to trust myself and take some chances. How hard am I willing to push myself? How far am I willing to go? How much faith do I have? I’ve got nothing to lose. Push hard and far and the goal will be achieved. Hard work, in my experience, always pays off. Always. So I just need to trust myself and work harder than I’ve ever worked before. I can do this. I was made to do this.

I’m here with Kelly and Ian again and I am having a time integrating parts and sections of what I wrote last month in with the previous sections about their lives. I will admit, I’m struggling a bit with this but I need to get through it before the end of the week. December will fly by the same way November did and I want to be completely prepared for January. I have many hours left in the day and tomorrow morning to fess this out. I want to have this small section of the novel figured out by the end of the week. I am dealing with about 20 pages of writing. I spent the first week working on 60 pages and I made it through them by Friday of last week. This little sliver of narrative is complicated but there is no reason I shouldn’t be able to finish reworking it by Sunday night.

The issue I’m having is how to best package this section of the novel. It introduces Ian and Kelly and their life together but it also goes into the point that merges their lives with Gabrielle’s. This is something that must be done with great skill. The reader has just gone through 60 pages with Gabrielle and Jonah and their life. Readers are filly vested in Jonah and Gabrielle by that point and if they have to meet new characters, I need to introduce them either in a very swift and efficient manner, or I need to get to the point and throw them into the mix with a shorter introduction. How much of Ian and Kelly does my audience need? That is something I have to figure out. It’s almost 4:30 in the afternoon. I have saved the evening for writing. Better get started now.