Rachel Writes Romance

Welcome to the debut of my blog, Rachel’s Words. I picked this date to launch my website because today I turn 60 years old. Contrary to how some women feel about holding their age close to the vest, I am very open about how much time God has gifted to me to spend on this planet.

My life has been full. And like most people, I will admit my journey has been sprinkled with some regrets along the way. Most of them have resulted from not taking advantage of opportunities placed before me. Even though I have always had a spark of determination, there were times when I walked away from  opportunities.

If growing older has taught me anything, it has taught me that I should jump at the chance to make my life exciting, to enjoy things that bring my passion to the surface, to tackle my bucket list before my time here is done and these things are no longer an option.

So, today I’d like to share with you what I have in mind for my focus as I begin my seventh decade of life.

I haven’t always known it, but there’s a writer inside of me trying to fight her way out. For decades, music has been my passion, listening to music, playing music, teaching music. I haven’t taught music in any form since about the early 90’s. For the past decade, I have rarely put my musical abilities to task on piano or clarinet. Getting older can be debilitating, taking away the things we once enjoyed doing because the body no longer supports the desire.

Singing — can’t do it because my left vocal cord refuses to move. If I’m having a good Sunday morning in church, I might belt out one good hymn and then I’m done, my vocal cord shuts down. Play my clarinet — the fingers still wiggle well enough, but my lungs aren’t what they used to be. I dream of performing again, but all it will probably ever amount to is a dream.

I mention all of this to say in 2012, I realized I wanted or needed a new creative outlet. For years I would have scenes play out in my mind. Many mornings I would wake up remembering things I had dreamed and sometimes I would dream these scenes over and over. As I became wrapped up in raising my children, the dreaming and thoughts of my characters  became less frequent and eventually disappeared, pushed far into the recesses of my mind because my focus was elsewhere. I’ve always enjoyed reading and was pleased that I had passed that enjoyment to my children. And then one day, my children were grown and gone. I had free time. Lots of free time.

In 2010, my children gave me a Kindle for Christmas. My love of reading was revived. I read fiction and non-fiction, but quickly became a fan of the historical romance genre. The dreams resumed, the characters holding a prominent place in my REM cycle. I was more cognizant of their presence during my waking hours. Perhaps they thought I needed company. My husband and I have worked opposite shifts for the past twenty-five years. Add to that the absence of my children and I guess my life needed a little chaos and drama. In March of 2012 I literally woke up one morning and decided I wanted write a novel. On that day, the newest passion of my life was born. So, come along and follow my blog. See how I work, sometimes struggling, to define my new passion.