A Return! and a blank sheet of paper…
I went back to school.
Okay, okay, that’s not the only reason I haven’t been on here in like three years. I let myself think my blogging was useless and my voice was not something anyone cared to hear. I have since come to my senses. So, two moves, a pandemic, and three breakups later (also, several huge identity crises) and I am back! I think—I hope! We’ll see, I guess, because I am currently applying to grad schools and might be a tad busy in the years to come. But fret not, I still managed to finish the first draft of my second book (book two of the series) and have recently been rereading in preparation for the first few major edits (the hardest part of the whole process, yes, but an exciting part nonetheless). I’m excited, anyway. Less overwhelmed than I was the last time I wrote an entry like this one. That’s because I spread my focus to other areas of my life, got some perspective, and remembered, through some much needed time away, how much I love writing and how much I—especially—love The Treehouse Castaways.
To bring you up to speed with my writing journey: I never stopped, but I haven’t been at it as much as I once was. There have been large gaps between writing bouts. Once, in an especially bleak winter, I even lost an entire year’s worth of work and nearly gave up on my story (to say nothing of my life). But I managed to—barely—get it back by scrounging every ounce of courage I had and scouring the internet for tips (never underestimate the power of the internet).
I have not kept up with short stories as much as I (probably) should have, but have written a few since last I set down an entry here, discussing just such a thing. I took a creative writing class at my community college, the semester before I started at UC Davis, and this pushed me to complete some pieces, which I am planning on sharing on this website once I make a new page for it.
Most importantly, I finished writing the first draft of book 2 (of The Treehouse Castaways series) and, recently—as in today—finished the reread and will be planning my next attack (that is, the first edit phase) in the days/weeks to come. It’s a very busy next couple of weeks for me with a talk at UCLA coming up, grad school applications, several classes, my brother and stepmom visiting California for the first time since they left back in 2016. So we’ll see how much I can get done. But I don’t plan on ever stopping, so you can be assured I’ll get to it all eventually!
Lastly, I wanted to make a special note for anyone out there who might be struggling with something I often have. My long sabbatical from this blog, indeed from this website, has come along with some special insight mostly gained whilst pursuing other interests, other successes or failures (depending upon how you look at it), and other areas of life): our voices matter. No matter who you are or what you’ve done or where you’ve been or where you’re going. We all have something important to say and something important to share. And I guess you never know who you might touch, who might be listening and needing your very specific insights.
I did not always know this, obviously. And I took for granted that I was in a better position to use it (have had consistent access to computers and the internet, am educated to the point of literacy, don’t have people threatening me when I do practice sharing my voice) than some. But I needed to learn to use it, and to recognize that I both can and should, at least to the best of my ability. And so can/should you (if you can, of course—not everyone has the same privileges). But if you are like I was, and don’t think you have anything important to say, just know that you do. And you can learn to do anything, including share your very special way of seeing the world.
K.G. Wiles 