No, really. It's literally been six months since I last made a blog post. These last few months have been a whirlwind, too.

After moving back to Maine in May, I wanted to release three full-length novels over the summer... Yeah, that didn't happen. What did happen, though, was I went to a crazy amount of events, spent gobs of money I didn't really have, and I wrote two full length books in six months. It doesn't sound glamorous, and it's not.

I lost friends, made new ones, and really tried to market my books as best I could.

A summer that was supposed to be fun and exciting and adventurous turned into a nightmare, though, forcing me to take a good, long, hard look at who I'd become. And the person I'd become wasn't someone I wanted to be.

When I started writing, I made a deal with my husband: I could continue to write full-time as long as I made the equivalent of $100 a week. On the day of my first payday, I made over $6k, which covered me for the entire year. But here's the thing - soon, I was only chasing the money. Suddenly, what I loved to do wasn't taking precedence, all that matter was my ranking, or how much money I brought in. And I hated myself for it.

I never imagined I'd get tired of writing, because, I rationalized, I wasn't doing it as a JOB, I was doing it as a hobby, as something fun and exciting. Over the last two years, though, it's become a job. I stress over release dates and price points, how best to market my books, and what the hell I'm going to do, if, like my book that released yesterday, I don't even sell enough copies to recoup the cost of the cover.

But I'm done worrying. I plan to continue writing, but not before I take some time off and remember who I was before I got caught up in the book world. It's a mess out there, with drama and arguments, authors behaving badly, and just downright mean-spirited folks whose goals are to bring others down.

In the last few days, specifically, I've come to terms with what's actually important in my life, and much to my own surprise, it's not books. Don't get me wrong - I love writing and I absolutely adore my readers, but the truth is, I've neglected the people in my life who have supported me all along. I don't have plans to stop writing, but I needed to get this out, to let the world know that I am not going keep up with this crazy author world.

Being away from social media the past few days has caused me to miss some intense author drama, and when I logged on this morning and saw it all, I laughed. Not because I think it's funny, but because I can't find it in me to care. I'm always so wrapped up in drama (my own and other author's), that I hardly get time to appreciate what I have, what I'm most grateful for in the world.

So I guess the point of this post is that you might not see me around a lot on social media anymore, but I will always write, because it cleanses my soul.