Dash Away is complete!

News from the past:

The final chapters need revision, but Dash Away is a complete draft! Yay!

This means I have successfully written six novels, with my definition of success being the completion of the final chapter. 

Here's a recap:

SPOTD

Most of this blog has been dedicated to my journey writing my middle grade series, Super Power of the Day. Books and digital versions of the three volumes are still available, although changes in publishing are raising prices and making access (for readers) a little tricky. Someday I'd love to republish the series with a traditional publisher. The dream, of course, is to see Chase Cooper's month of superpowers as a three season televised series. I think that format would be a fantastic fit.

Super Power of the Day: Origins of a Sixth Grade Superhero

Super Power of the Day: The Hero Chronicle Continues

Super Power of the Day: The Final Faceoff

LIO & LAMB

Imagine if when the Kents discovered baby Kal El in their cornfield, Jonathan wanted to turn the baby over to the government/scientists, so Martha took the baby and ran. But high fantasy. The first book in my created world series is a pursuit (first draft complete; needs editing now that I know what it wants to be). The second book is the developing powers/coming of age bit with the beginnings of a quest (unwritten). It's possible that section is two books. I won't know until I write it. The current "third" book is a murder mystery in a castle, where the quest is fulfilled (first draft complete; needs editing now that I know what it wants to be). 

DASH AWAY

When a blizzard interrupts Charlie's Christmas plans, she settles in for a cozy weekend in her nearly-perfect house. But the stranded remnants of a film crew crash into those plans, bringing shy Charlie face-to-face with her romance series crush. A weekend of fun and games slowly turns into something more serious, begging the question: Can a small town girl and a big city celebrity find their happily ever after?

Letting Go of the Old Story

Two springs ago my district moved graduation to the Friday before the last week of classes, which meant that my seniors were done early, leaving me a few "free" hours during the last week of school. I used the bonus time to clean out 32 years of files, a job I'd been meaning to do for at least a decade. 

I learned a lot. 

I found my first evaluation, when my first principal observed a class 22-year-old me was teaching. It was hilarious to read his description of my lesson (it sounded awesome) and my teaching style (ah, to be young).

I discovered instructions and student samples from curriculum I developed in the 1990's based on OBE and cooperative, project learning. I was amazed at the ambitiousness of the projects. 

Mostly, I sorted through reams and reams of ephemera, lesson plans, and worksheets I created for SO MANY pieces of literature over the years. Many documents were thrown away with fingers crossed that I wouldn't need them ever again. Of course, docs I created in the past two decades are available online, but it was still hard to toss them into the recycling bin.

Note: A few docs were typed on a typewriter and copied via mimeograph. I saved those just to laugh at.

Ultimately, I went from 11 file drawers to 5, which means I really let go of a lot. It wasn't just the physical paper. It was all the accumulated work of a career. The time, the grind that makes up a life. 

By the time I closed the final file drawer, I was feeling some feels.

It was a valuable lesson in letting go. 

I have taught 30+ years of English 12 at my high school, years during which I refined and perfected lessons until I mostly defeated imposter syndrome to the point of pride. Also during this time period our district skipped the curriculum review process several times; as a result, the anthologies out of which we had been teach poetry, short stories, etc. were over 35 years old. 

The books were literally falling apart, and we couldn't even order used copies online, because there were none to be had. Finally our district purchased new curriculum (anthologies), and this past year it was "out with the old and in with the new."

One thing that helped me with the transition to the new curriculum was that experience of cleaning out the files the spring before.

I had let go of the story in my head that told me who I was as a teacher. I invented a new teacher from the ashes. 

The next new story?

The end of my teaching career is in sight, begging several questions: 

* As I transition away from the daily grind of teaching, how will my identity as a writer unfold?

* Is there a path to a full time career as a writer in my future?

* Moving forward, who will the new Ann be?