Benedictine Oblate and Third Novel News

Hear ye, hear ye! The news express is making a quick stop straight from Emmyland.

From all the recent emails I've received recently, it looks like I'm officially on my way to becoming an official Benedictine Oblate. Cue the happy crying, fangirl squealing, and other celebratory actions a young woman of my age should've outgrown by now... but hasn't. lol. The Oblate novitiate period is a year-long process of discernment. To say that I'm excited would be an understatement. Did you not see the "fangirl squealing" part? lol.

Seriously, I could not be happier. My spiritual life has gotten a much life boost. I honestly feel like a different person and have been much happier. The Lenten week of depression only lasted the entirety of Holy Week before disappearing. I've already planned on spending more time in adoration with this book by St. Alphonsus Liguori this week. I look forward to discerning whether this is something God is calling me to do over the next year.

We have a (tentative) publication date for the third novel: May 14, 2018. That's 4 years (what?!) and 2 weeks after the publication of the first novel. It is the first non-Will and Lina book and something that was re-written over the past couple of months. It started out as one thing and with one idea and it morphed into something else. Not only that, a sequel will have to be written to finish the story. I tried to avoid it but I couldn't; these characters have a mind of their own.

As with my other novels, I decided to take the self-publishing route. Why? Because, really, it's the best options for these types of books. The YA/NA market is hard to break into, especially with books with my specific intent to write books that aren't smutty or insulting as the ones that dominate the current market. No, self-publishing is the right path for these books... for now. The autobiography I'm ghostwriting will (hopefully) be going to an actual publisher and is headed down a more traditional route.

If you're new to these parts, my novels tend to be YA/NA (young adult/new adult) aimed at young women between the ages of 17 to 26. I've had guys read my previous two novels (When Two Worlds Collide and London Calling) and I haven't heard too many complaints but, yeah, it's not aimed for y'all. I just have to put that warning out there. ;)

Alright, that's it. I've had an uber long day and I'm "functioning" on less than 5 hours of sleep which tends to make me a little silly and giddy. You guys are better off not seeing that side of me. lol.

I hope y'all are having a great week thus far!

As always, thanks for reading and God bless! :D

Why Are We Afraid To Be Ourselves?

This is going to be a quick blog post since I have my latest EpicPew article due tonight.

You know how enthusiastic a child gets when he's really excited about something? How he's just so exuberant about the thing (whatever it may be) that he starts telling everyone he meets about it? That's totally me... and I'm tired of hiding it out of fear of what others will think.

I've never lost that child-like quality for some reason. I get so excited about x, y, and/or z that I tell everyone (I feel comfortable showing that side of myself to) about it. I will talk someone's ear off on the subject if I'm allowed. Many people will say, "wait, I've never seen that side of you before." Well, yeah... that's the whole point of this post.

Lately, I've asked why I've been so afraid of sharing that side of my personality. Was I really that embarrassed about being laughed at for showing that kind of enthusiasm? Well, yes. I've been made of for it in the past; made to feel like there was something wrong with me. I hate to admit it, but I just didn't want people to think of me as some simpleton who got excited over the smallest things... but I do.

I'll also admit that I sometimes fear that people might also think I'm full of myself and am bragging about something if it has to do with me or any happy news I may get. When I share something I'm excited about, the last thing on my mind is how it can make me look good. I just want to share it because, duuuude, it's so cool (!!) or because it's something I'd been praying about and I've seen the fruits of that prayer.

I was reflecting on that lately and I came to the conclusion that things are going to change. I'm going to be as unabashedly excited about things I share because I just want to share that excitement. I'm tired of hiding that side of myself out of fear of what others may think. People may think what they want. I'm sorry but I'm just not going to care anymore.

Does anyone else have the same problem? Do you sometimes think twice about sharing something out of fear of what others may think? Does anyone else want to take this challenge (because it will be a challenge, at first) with me?

Anyway, just a random thought I wanted to share. Okay, fine, and I'm also procrastinating on the article. I'll get to it next, especially since the threat of falling asleep is ever present.

I hope you're all having a lovely week thus far!

As always, thanks for reading and God bless! :D