Hello all!

As anyone who has been following me knows, I’ve been completely MIA for months now. Which I apologize for — life just hit me and my family so hard, and often the pressure of writing a blog post in the middle of that seems insurmountable. A blog post? you say.

Yep.

I always want to give good content in some form. Relevant or witty or well put together. And since about June, I haven’t often had any of those faculties, or those that I did have were sorely tested by things like edits, family emergency, personal health crisis, surgeries, and now, going back to school.

That’s right. After 10 years and 6 as a stay at home mother, I am going back to school to get my MA in Writing and Rhetoric. I’m terrified and elated. I love my coursework and my cohort and my program, but am struggling with the load. I am lucky enough to have an assistantship (which means I work 20 hours a week at my writing center and they pay for my schooling and a small stipend), but the addition of the work load (which so far has been adding up to a lot more than 30 hours a week) has added to the challenge.

But the biggest challenge has been the loss of time I have with my children. I commute 1 hour a day each way to go to school, 4 days a week. Some days, I leave at 7 and come home at 7 and see my children for an hour. Other days, I come home at 4:30-5:30 ish. I get a few hours with them and then spend the rest of the few hours I have (2-3 a night) studying, cleaning, trying to make food ahead of time for the babysitter, and working. The driving is *killing* my hands and wrists and elbows, which contributes a lot to my silence.

As you can see, there is not a lot of time in there for blogging or writing. I am so hoping to get a handle on this load soon, because writing is incredibly important for my well being and creative self, and I miss it.

That said, I am so hopeful I can offer you better and more exciting content soon! With the release of my second book coming soon, I have so much I want to share with you and talk about and just squeeeee over.

Oh yeah, and did I mention a new book? 😉

Yes I did.

With pride and so much love I am sharing my next story, What It Takes, which will be available for pre-order in November and for sale January 14th, 2016.

Stay tuned for more info and details!!

Hugs and Kisses,

Cave Dweller Jude