As I sit here in my bed--the sun not having risen yet--I'm left with feelings of gratitude.

Crisp October mornings are my favorite mornings, but they're often met with an abundance of grief, the fall air wisping me back in time to things I may not always want to remember.

But I've found, as a writer but even more so as a human, that the grief and everything in between is what got me to this place.

Not that the grief and struggles HAVE to exist in order to create, but that the things I'm interested in creating come from that deep place in the bottom of my gut, the one placed there by everything I've seen, and done, and been through.

And not that anybody should be grateful for the grief itself (cuz let's be real, that s*** blows!)

But I don't know if my creations would speak the same language if it were any other way...

I'm sitting here on this particular October morning, with the first round of edits on my debut novella, back from my editor and ready for me to dive into.

I've got an amazing cover that exceeded my expectations by miles.

I've got incredibly talented people helping me turn this book into the best it can be, and this is coming from a person who sits in solitude (willingly) and complains they have no friends--but I digress...

The book is happening. It's real now. And it's GOOD.

I don't think as authors (specifically indie authors) we pat ourselves on the back enough. So I'm going to do that today.

*pat pat*

All of that to say--

I can't wait to show you what I've created. :)