I finally came to a fork in the road where one path led to keeping 2 jobs, one of which had become too time-consuming, physically demanding and just plain stressful, and the other a journey at a far more reasonable and rewarding pace with many interesting side-trip destinations along the way.

Giving up my day-job is like jumping off a cliff without a parachute, but becoming a full-time writer has been an unfulfilled dream for many years as I tried to be fiscally responsible and work my way through to that fork in the road.

Now I can double my productivity, spend the time I need on research, promotion and supporting not only myself but the writing community as a board member of the local Sisters in Crime chapter.

I think I'm going to like this new, uncharted territory a lot, even if it has some bumps in the road. There's a lot to be said for the adventure of the road untraveled, and I've never been one to back away from a challenge.