What I DIDN'T Do Before I Turned 40

a State-of-the-Writing address

Sep 03, 2024

Yesterday I turned 41. I started writing books for kids when I was 28. If you can do the math (I had to use one of my kids’ ages because I started writing seriously when they were a baby), that’s 13 years of writing, illustrating, and seeking publication.

Close-up of a decadent donut, glazed and coated in toasted shredded coconut with coconut cream pie filling and whipped cream on top. It sits in a clear plastic tray on a white tabletop. — Behold! The coconut cream pie gluten-free doughnut I got for my birthday.

For the last 13 years I have had two goals/primary focuses/dreams in life:

Shepherd my children to the best of my abilities.
Publish books.

I’ve mostly done one of those things.

In 13 years.

It’s kind of depressing when I look at it that way.

That’s exactly a great time to look at things from a different angle!

Because I am now 41 and all out of f%@!#&*$ (if you count the symbols, that’s feathers; I’m all out of feathers) to give, I’m going to lay out all of my accomplishments, in terms of my writing career. This is for transparency. And also to brag. If no one’s going to give me any awards, I have to pat myself on the back.

In 13 years I’ve:

written more than 60 drafts of different picture books.
made dummy books for 4 of those picture books (which means I’ve sketched and partially illustrated them).
written 7 novels.
wrote and created a pitch package for 1 graphic novel.
queried 9 books to 204 agents for a total of 319 queries.
submitted 43 times to publishers.
placed in 3 contests.
attended 5 conferences.
taken 4 classes.
started 1 critique group.
weaseled my way into 1 more critique group.
made approximately a bazillion writer and illustrator friends, many of whom are now just plain good friends.

That’s not nothing. And I’m not just listing these to toot my own horn. I’m giving you permission to look at what you’ve done, even if it’s not the sum of what you want to accomplish, and be proud of yourself.

We are awesome.

Have any friends who could use some encouragement in their creative lives?

What’s next, you ask? (I know you didn’t really ask.) I’m presently adapting to the routine of a new school year. It takes me weeks every single time (hashtag: perks of being neurodivergent). So I’m not pumping out work right now. But there are things I’ve got in the works:

My awkward rom-com, THAT Type of Love Story, is with my critique group right now. I’ll get all the juicy details about what they loved and what needs to be improved in about a month or so. This is the most ecstatic I’ve been for someone to read my work. I smile and laugh to myself when I think about this story, so I really hope it delights them as well.
I’m slowly working on sketching out that new picture book idea I talked about last newsletter. I really want to not be doing this slowly. It’s an urgent topic and I want to get it out there, like, yesterday.
This summer I mentioned writing something new. It’s not illustrated. It’s not in verse. It’s not for teens. It’s for adults! I’m writing an adult romance! I love the genre and have had ideas swirling for a series for years. If you enjoy that type of book and would like to be in the loop about where that goes, will you let me know?* I have plans, friends. Plans.