Humble Beginnings

Photo Credit: S. R. Karfelt

Inspired by the brilliant flashes pouring from The Glitter Globe, I had little idea of the odyssey I was embarking upon. This story literally changed my life, but that is getting ahead of myself. The first three months I spent every possible moment armed with a big fat 3-subject notebook from Staples and a pencil. The electric pencil sharpener was as high tech as I got in those early months. I filled pages, front and back, of many notebooks with the early stages of my story. I wrote sitting in chairs, in cars, in airplanes, flat on my back in bed with the book held up in the air (one reason why I preferred pencils). I worked on yards and yards of time-lines, and filled three index card boxes with characters, places and information from the world that was pouring out of The Glitter Globe.

Photo Credit: S. R. Karfelt

It isn't possible for me to even speculate how much time I've put into this, I stopped watching television, I stopped reading, every moment I could spare and many that I maybe shouldn't have went into writing furiously.  Did I mention I stopped over-eating?  I'd always been a stress-eater and suddenly I wasn't.  I started to exercise too - I had to do something to offset the 8-12 hours spent writing every day.  At first I simply donated 20 minutes every morning and evening to the dusty old Stairmaster that hadn't been used in years.

Photo Credit: S. R. Karfelt

I think that my newfound joy at doing something I'd always wanted to do (writing) and had never taken the time to do was contagious.  My husband recognized my obsession and joy and encouraged me; my children were somewhat amused and didn't ask too many questions about what I would only refer to as "My Project".  They all missed the days when Mom cooked and cleaned but they took on those chores without complaint, probably thankful that I wasn't too insistent that they eat the fruits and vegetables that I was enjoying mostly raw.  Who had time to cook?!