Moving on

Well, it’s official, Patch and I are parting ways.

It’s been a really tremendous two years and I’ll always be grateful that I had such an amazing opportunity as a brand new writer. Some writers toil their whole lives and never get paid to do what they love. Me, they started paying two months after I started writing. So, go me!

What’s next? I hear you asking all the way from the future.

Well, I’ll continue to publish my blog but I’ve decided that this is a sign from the universe that it’s time to focus on finishing Restless and other stories that I’ve been neglecting (cough – Girls Like Us– cough). Also, several people have messaged me to ask if I had plans to lengthen Restless into a full-fledged book and since I have some new found free time I’ve decided that, yes, Restless will be turned into a novel or at least a novella.

Honestly, I’m a little relieved. It’s hard to come up with content every single week and since it was work, it took priority over all of my other writing. I can now concentrate on writing stories and updating the blog which is different from Patch, it’s informal.

Over and above

Teaching is not a lost art, but the regard for it is a lost tradition.  ~Jacques Barzun

The other morning I was hanging out, waiting for Emma as she auditioned for a summer dance program. It was going to be a long morning. Registration started at 10 with the audition scheduled to be over at 2. We’ve been to the venue before so I knew there were benches, so with a fully charged kindle and brand new book downloaded, I was good for the duration.

But the day had other plans for me.

We arrived a little early since parking in Boston is challenging even on Sunday morning. One of Emma’s classmates was already there, warming up. A few minutes later more of her classmates arrived. Then one of her dance teachers.

I had met the teacher, briefly, the night before at a school performance so we quickly said our ‘hellos’ and then he got busy with the dancers, making sure they were really stretching and checking that everyone had a good breakfast. I listened as he laughed with the kids and answered questions about the school they were auditioning for, his alma mater. Sitting there, eavesdropping as he interacted with his students, I was reminded, again, of how teachers are vilified.