An MFRW Author Post – And check out the other blogs on the hop!

 

dandelion-445228_960_720My mother taught my first creative writing class

And how to throw rhymes out the window

How to create something from nothing

How to teach writing when I do not understand how to write myself

My father taught me the beauty of commercial art

Of how to make a living by coloring within the lines

But drawing the lines however you like first.

My grandmother taught me that art is a business

And how to walk the line between doing what you love

And supporting a family, friends and other artists.

My grandfather taught me that to break the rules of wordsmithing

You must know them. Worship them. Sacrifice to them.

And then destroy them for the greater good.

I come from a family of creators and craftsmen, of do-it-yourselfers and imaginers, a little shrewd, a little desperate, determined and driven. 

My family has taught me how to fight for the right to create, how to make it the most important thing in your day and your life.

They have shown me that there is no direct route and how to forge my own,

Taught me humbleness in managing rejection and

How to switch tracks,

When the weariness sets in.

There have been others too,

There always are.

Teachers who have given me an invaluable toolbox of books and lessons and edits and support.

Friends who have listened to the midnight rants and rambles, who have edited and critiqued, who have read and reviewed, who have gone museum adventuring and plane-riding to help me find that next story.

I am grateful for them all.

girls-1149935_960_720For my partner, who has never said that perhaps I should try something different, something that doesn’t rip my still-beating heart from the cage of my chest each time I get a little bit closer and fall a little bit further, the one who has scraped my boneless body from the ground when the rejections came too often and the deadlines too quickly, the one who has celebrated the victories and mourned the defeats in equal, unwavering measure.

I am grateful to my communities, to the ones who still miss me from back home, to the ones who share articles and opinions and ideas, to the ones who inspire me to keep climbing, running and jumping a little harder, higher and longer.

And most of all, at the end of the day and the end of the year, I am grateful to each and every person who read my words, who opened a magazine or picked up their tablet or stopped by this website and listened to what I had to say. I am grateful for the chance. I am grateful for you.