It's me. Write here.
Updated: Nov 2, 2018
When I was about to publish my first book, I was suffering from a massive fear of failure. As I shared my thoughts with a close friend, she looked me in the eye and said, “Well, why’d you write it?” Ummm…awkward silence. She didn’t let me off the hook. "Okay," she prodded. "I’ll put it this way: what do you want people to walk away with after reading?”
Huh?
Dude, I’m a fiction writer. What’s with the meaning-of-life questions? But the truth is, I would have never written Tracing Time without feeling like it was absolutely necessary for me to process the trials of my life by getting lost in my dream world of comforting–and sometimes agonizing–make-believe. And after a little help from writer, Jeff Goins, on how to hone in on my message, I can tell you today that I write stories, fiction and non-fiction to create hope and faith in both the seen and unseen.
So, welcome to my writing! I can only pray that it gives you hope and faith to believe in yourself, in your neighbor, and in that which is bigger than us all.
I love to dream. One day, I was sitting on a plane next to a broad-shouldered man with large age-spotted hands. Instead of taking the forty-five minute flight as an opportunity to get to know our fellow man, we both sat silently as we drifted in and out of sleep. But my quiet reverie was filled with imagining the amazing life this time-weathered gentleman must have had. I could feel it. I’ll do that occasionally. Write the imaginary tales of a scene or person that inspires me. Maybe I’ll tell you about my almost-friend Roger someday.
And lately, I’ve found myself writing a lot of non-fiction. My own search along this journey we call life. I have a deep-rooted belief that drives me to live each day to its fullest. I also love research. I think people are fascinating, and I love studying what makes us who we are. So whatever my findings and meditations about the meaning of life or faith in God, I’ll share them with you. And sometimes when the silence is broken as I meet a person whose reality is way better than my fiction, I’ll include it in posts about the faith I have in humanity as well.
I love words. Rhyme. Alliteration. Metaphors. Prose. You name it. I love the written and spoken word. My dad was a poet. But not just someone who wrote poems; a guy who was actually approached by a traditional publisher for his poetic genius. Not to set you up for disappointment, but nobody’s ever approached me. Just sayin’. However, I still inherited the emote-through-poetry gene, and I’ll share as I am inspired to do so.
And sometimes I travel. I used to live in Europe where we could drive or fly on the cheap to some truly amazing places pretty regularly. I didn’t realize until recently how much of an itch to explore I get on a regular basis. But now that I’m smack dab in the middle of the continental US, I’ve grown to appreciate the opportunities I get to go to new places all the more. Which means I’ll share my travels with you if you feel so inclined to join me. No passport necessary. The more the merrier.
Lastly, I'll try to chronicle some of the "hows" of coming up with my content since I get asked those questions a lot. I'll do my best to answer the questions you throw at me! That pretty much sums up the writing I plan on doing here. But I reserve the right to change my mind and add or subtract subjects as needed. Because people change, and I’m okay with that. I hope you are too. I’m Shelly, and I’d like to take this opportunity to cordially invite you to come along for the ride. Write here. Because I would love to hear from you!