Kim Dinan

In August I’m headed back to Spain to walk the Camino de Santiago again– but this time Juniper, my two-year-old, is coming with me! When I reached Santiago the last time, I told myself that I’d come back every 5-10 years, or at each new phase of my life, to contemplate endings and beginnings, to take stock of my life, and to plan for new adventures. Juni and I on one of our “training” walks Juniper will walk as much as she wants to When Juniper wants to walk, she’ll walk. It’s a comfort to know that Juniper and I can take as much time as we need each day and still have a place to sleep each night.

February: Brian began working remotely full-time and Juniper was pretty happy to see more of Dad. This was a pretty momentous occasion as it allowed us to fulfill a pretty big dream later on in the year July: At the end of July Brian and I celebrated our 10-year-anniversary with date night and cupcakes (see Juniper’s face.) September: At the end of the month we took a huge leap, bought our dream house in the mountains and moved to a small town just outside of Asheville, North Carolina (made possible because Brian is able to work remotely.)

I’ve created a six-week course to help new authors navigate the book proposal and query process because it’s exactly what I needed when I was starting out. We will meet virtually as a group once a week until March 26, 2018 (the calls will be recorded if you can’t be there in person) to cover every aspect of the book proposal and query process, and you’ll have support and accountability the whole way as we walk through the process of writing a book proposal and a query letter. Call-by-call we will deconstruct the pieces of a book proposal, set realistic deadlines, commiserate over the difficulties of writing (ha! ), and of course, I’ll be on hand to answer any and all of your questions about book proposals and the world of professional writing. I’ll even provide you with copies of my book proposal and query letter for “The Yellow Envelope,” as well as a number of other handouts and will personally review and edit your completed proposal.

The real irony was that, because I didn’t have any time to play (play = to write for fun, to journal, to read, to sit down with blank paper and dream big or brainstorm what my next new and exciting step in life would be– all things that I used to do regularly) Since I now have designated work time and designated play time, I don’t feel that constant back-and-forth battle I felt before. Although I am not using my 5:15 time to work in any way, I feel as though I have more energy and enthusiasm to work. Rule 1: I can do whatever I want as long as it isn’t work and as long as it does not come with any feeling of obligation Rule 2: I can journal, work on the novel I’m writing just to see if I can, blog, or read.