Wandering the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) in Washington, D.C. last Sunday, I kept thinking about the artists behind the pieces. When did inspiration first strike them? Did they know their pieces would someday be shared with the world or did they create without assurance their art would have an audience? It takes faith and conviction, I think, to put your heart into a creative project that may not see the light of day.
Then again, the process is the thing. The act of creating the painting or the sculpture, the book or the song, is the wondrous bit you have to savor, in part because it’s the only aspect of creative work you can control. I try to remember that as I move into the next phase of my novel writing journey. I recently finished the manuscript, and I am nearing the stage where you send query letters to literary agents. I’m excited and I’m scared. To calm my nerves, I remind myself how much I enjoyed the process. I pay homage to the muses that continued to whisper in my ear even though it took me so long to do anything with the gifts they gave me. I say thank you to the universe, which is woo-woo, but I do. I am lucky to like to write and to feel compelled to do so. That said, I would be lying if I pretended I didn’t want to publish my story—yearn to even. I’m wildly grateful to The Novelry’s commercial fiction writing program for helping me turn this lifelong dream into a tangible goal with clearly defined phases and steps. It’s scary to want something so badly, but it’s fun, too. I feel a sense of purpose. I’m energized, motivated, ready.
I don’t know what happens next, but I do know I feel more like myself than I have in a long time. I’ve been a writer for hire for more than a decade, and I think that gave me the illusion of having met my need to create. It didn’t, though. I’ve felt a low-level dissonance for a long time. I’ve been angry and disappointed in myself—because I wanted to write a novel, intended to, vowed to… and yet still did not write a novel. Answering what feels like a calling has brought me a sense of relief. I’m doing it. I’m trying. I am proud of the career I’ve built writing magazine articles, ghostwriting, copywriting, speaking, and leading branded content projects—all work I will continue to pursue because I enjoy it and because I need to make a living. But, gosh, I would never have forgiven myself if I didn’t get this story out of me. I wonder if it’s the same for the artists I admired at the NMWA.
Anyway, looking back at 2025, my biggest accomplishment was finishing my first novel. I’m also proud of how much I read. I’ve always been an avid reader, but since January 2025, I quadrupled my story consumption. I started listening to books, not just reading them, transforming mundane tasks like folding laundry or driving home from the grocery store into something productive and meaningful. I’ve been reading books in my genre (book club with a light speculative edge) and books outside it, literary greats, commercial successes, and basically anything someone I like recommends.
So far in 2026, I’ve read or listened to The Correspondent by Virginia Evans, Heart the Lover by Lily King, The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller, Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall, The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I’m currently reading Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell and A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (with my kids). I’m about to start Theo of Golden by Allen Levi.
In addition to the creative writing work, my professional highlights from 2025 include:
- Writing profiles about Inc. 5000 honorees (the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the U.S.), like this one about the “king of car keys.”
- Working on branded content projects like this one for Inc. magazine and eBay.
- Producing content and poll questions for the Inc. 5000 Community, a digital platform and network for founders and CEOs of Inc. 5000-ranking companies.
- Writing for Association of National Advertisers (ANA) Magazine.
- Running an in-person workshop on effective written communication for Intuit.
- Speaking at the Brand Storytelling Conference.
On a personal note, I joined the National Charity League with my daughter and volunteered more than 50 hours to Meals on Wheels, The Daily Bread food shelter, SOAR Together to end isolation, and other local nonprofits and community events. In addition to continuing to volunteer, my 2026 goals are to write another book because… why not? I’m making up for lost time. I also intend to do everything I can to connect with a literary agent and get my first novel published. I can’t control outcomes, but I can control my mindset and how hard I work.
Final thought: Well done, you genius women with pieces in NMWA, particularly Tawny Chatmon, whose captivating multimedia pieces have taken up permanent residence in my mind, and I’m not mad about it. And a shout-out to the amazing lifelong friends I got to see the exhibits alongside. That was a special weekend.