Realms of the Raven

When I got the news on Thursday that I’d sold my first fiction story, C was at the Mariners’ game and I waited until he got home to tell him. I kept staring at the email in awe…..

When I told him, he was very excited for me and we danced around for a while.

But the next day, I was on the way to work when I got a call from Yasmine Galenorn, my friend and mentor, to say I needed to check my email when I got to the office. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what had happened - I was afraid her older kitty had died or some catastrophe had hit.

Instead I had a lovely congratulatory email and an invite to join the Witchy Chicks blog. I almost cried. Instead I called her back and she told me that C had been sending out mail to brag that I had done it…..

I did cry then.

Not only was C happy for me, he was completely cheering me on with people he didn’t know, totally on his own and without even letting on to me!

How cool is that???

I want to take a moment to thank the most important support person in my life - my husband, C.

I read and hear a lot of stories from other aspiring authors whose husbands/family/significant others run the gamut from not very supportive, to dissmissive, to downright mocking or destructive to their attempts to begin a writing career.

I have certainly had my own challenges and things to overcome but C has been unflaggingly supportive and is easily my best cheerleader. He’s never made fun of my dream, he’s never tried to get me to stop, he’s always celebrated every small victory and kept my spirits up when there were rejections or failures.

Well, he did tell me that I needed to invest in a trashcan in the office that was not a pretty perforated metal one because, if I really did throw up, it would be far easier to clean up. And he does get to laugh when I start vibrating :)

And, let’s be clear, while this dream has cost me time and hobbies, it has cost him TOO. I hate housework but now it’s even further down my list. C does easily 99% of the cooking. He has to put up with my distracted ramblings and forgetting to stop for milk because I zoned out on the way home. He does a lot of parenting of our 6 year old.

But, despite all this, he’s remained my supporter and really believes that I can do this and my dream of retiring from the Evil Day Job to just write CAN become a reality. We love each other dearly and believe in each other - and I’m so lucky.

I’ve asked him to come on and speak on something I don’t hear very often - the husband’s view of being married to an aspiring author.