Three photos below are from the Open Mic hosted by the Writers' Community of Durham Region WCDR on September 15, 2015 when I read from my WIP to an audience.
...then there's the finished product...my debut novel launched on August 23, 2021 

It’s been quite the journey for me. Starting with hastily scribbled notes on pieces of paper and when the errant pages became increasingly difficult to find, transferring those notes into a spiral notebook. A busy work schedule precluded the easy transference of said notes into neatly typed pages.

My conscience was heavy; the little voice on my shoulder would not stop nagging. Got to organize your life, girl, it intoned day and night until I accepted defeat.

But it wasn’t defeat; as it turned out, this thing called conscience nudged my hesitating self towards an awakening. I was ready to grab life by its horns, so to speak, and let fly determined to put the finishing touches to my WIP. Having willingly given up a wonderful job I became unemployed in January 2015 when I entered the uncertain and gray realm of a full-time writer without a single published book to my credit.

Fast forward to September 2015. I am getting ready to read an excerpt from my novel Moonlight – The Journey Begins at an Open Mic event organized by @wcdr. Nervous? Of course. Excited? Yes, but my nervousness far outweighs any excitement I feel that evening.

My family and friends have turned up in full force. How can anything go wrong?

The audience is hugely supportive. I am rubbing elbows with seasoned authors, remarkable poets, an awesome singer and in the company of such talented people, my draft begins to appear uncommonly rough around the edges to my intensely critical eyes.  I am suffering from an acute case of imposter syndrome.

I hear my name, Kate Arms, MC for the evening, is introducing me. I stand up, smooth my dress down the front and in a haze walk to the podium. Fixing my glasses firmly on my nose I shake out the pages noting my steady hands with detached curiosity and start reading.

Pfft…all of the negative emotions I had been feeling before disappear as I enter the world of my characters - talking their talk, feeling their feelings, living their lives.

A long journey, fraught sometimes with self-doubts coupled with intense highs and distressing lows, at the end it has been well worth all the effort. Those pieces of paper found a home within the pages of my debut novel Moonlight – The Journey Begins. To get a copy simply follow the link - https://books.friesenpress.com/store/title/119734000179989228
#amwriting #writingcommunity #author #inspiration #books #debut #debutnovel #heritage #life

13 delightfully crisp degrees welcome me as I step out.
It’s 6:30 a.m.

In anticipation of a refreshing coolness, I am dressed in layers.
Silence shrouds the streets in a secret world
Parked cars stare with regal disdain;
A sudden whirring of leaves makes me look up a maple tree
and I catch the impish twitch of a black tail –
the squirrel throws me an amused look before disappearing.

I pause, drinking it all in. Then, carry on. 

​#life #september #pandemic2021 #amwriting #writingcommunity