This video is such good inspiration for me in those hobbies I have where I don't feel as good as I want to be. It is such a good reminder that we just need to be patient and create lots.

Now that its been almost a month....What was everyone's favorite takeaway from StoryCon? I loved Sanderson's Keynote when he talked about how dedicated he was to being the author who wrote hundreds of books because he loved writing instead of for the fame or money. It has made me really ponder how I approach things I enjoy in life.

Hi, All, A little background on me and where I'm at in my writing journey - I was a devourer of stories from an early age, especially fantasy and history (early influencers were Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia, Series of Unfortunate Events, the Dear/My America books, and anything by Gail Carson Levine), and by the time I was entering high school I had been bitten by the Jane Austen bug (I may or may not have had a birthday sleepover in middle school forcing my friends to watch the full 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride & Prejudice). From the time I was around eight years old, my family visited Gettysburg yearly, and our fifth grade librarian recited for us her own, age-appropriate version of The Odyssey (I can still recite the song about the island of lotus-eaters). Thus began my history obsession. I dabbled in creative writing in middle school, but high school came around, and despite the fact that I loved to read and was developing as a strong writer, I never seriously considered publishing anything of my own (becoming an author always seemed to me an impractical or improbable pipe dream). I took whatever English literature and history courses I could throughout high school, and I applied to colleges under the Englit programs with the goal of going into the publishing field. During college, I was persuaded by some excellent professors to add history as a double-major, in addition to my Certificate in Children's Literature. Throughout college, however, I came to realize three things: first, I wanted to continue my education, second, that my love of literature was very much born from my love of history and not the weeds of literary theory, and third, I really couldn't see myself living in NYC. I interned at the local historical society and caught the public history itch. I earned my MA in History in central NY, studying early American history, gender studies, print culture, the Atlantic world, and museum studies. Afterwards, my boyfriend (now husband) and I moved to Upstate NY, and I've spent the past six and a half years doing curatorial, research, exhibits, and grant writing work for historic house museums.