An Introduction

I have always wanted to be an author. When I was a kid, before the internet poisoned me, I wrote my first novel by hand, filling notebooks with handwriting that has not improved at all in the last ten or so years. Before I finished it, I re-wrote it. Again by hand. When I had a computer, but still no internet, I wrote a new story, totaling over 400 pages. The point of telling you this is simply to let you know - the kid version of myself was boss and I miss her to death.
After that I stalled out. I became easily distracted. I'd write something, become obsessed with it for a few weeks, then suddenly the light would be out. Or I  would have story ideas where I'd have pages and pages of notes of what I wanted to happen in the novel, who the characters were and what they'd be like, all of that stuff. But I could never seem to get them to come to life in a novel.
But a few weeks ago I had an a-ha moment. An idea I've had simmering for nearly five years suddenly seemed like something I could put together. I have 95 pages right now, the highest I've ever made it for a novel I'm serious about (and yes, I do seem to prefer writing novels rather than shorter stories). Not only that, but I have this strange confidence that I never used to have, a certainty that somewhere down the road I will finish this beast. I will be able to say I wrote a novel and not be embarrassed when someone asks if they can read it. I'll have something that I'll be willing and eager to send to agents and editors in hopes that maybe they just might be interested in publishing it.
So that's what this blog is about. This novel and all the highs and lows, the bumps in the road. The wonder at how these people I've created seem pretty real to me and also how it's really too bad they're not. I'll probably post non novel things too since I am, as mentioned before, easily sidetracked by the internet. Hopefully it will all be worth reading.