Dear Me: A Writer's Wish (Irene Latham)

My father in a book store -
one of his favorite places to be!

So our topic for the month is "Dear Me - what I wish I'd known at the beginning of the year."

Well, I puzzled over this for a while. So much happened this year! Not just in my writing life, but in my life-life. My father died June 8, 2016.

Do I wish I would have known what that was going to be like?

No, no and no. I have learned so much about myself and my father and love and life and how we carry on... but no, I don't wish I'd known any sooner.

For me, it's like these great lyrics from Bob Seger's song "Against the Wind," of which my husband, whose mind is a jukebox, reminded me:

 "Wish I didn't know now 

what I didn't know then." 

And there is a lesson in there for my writing as well: I am exactly where I need to be. I may have stalled out on that novel, not knowing how to "fix" it. I may have "missed" a promotional opportunity. I may have spent days/hours/weeks on a project that will never sell.

But that's okay. All of it. I am exactly where I need to be.

And: SO ARE YOU.

Wishing you all great things as we wind down 2016 and welcome a brand-new year. xo
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IreneLatham wouldn't be a writer if not for the father who read to her and taught her to love words. An award winning author of two novels for children LEAVING GEE'S BEND and DON'T FEED THE BOY, she was named the winner of the 2016 International Literary Association-Lee Bennett Hopkins Promising Poet Award. Her poetry titles for children include DEAR WANDERING WILDEBEEST, FRESH DELICIOUS, and WHEN THE SUN SHINES ON ANTARCTICA.