6.22.25: Maiden Post!

Hi all! We're going to try something here to give some insights into this author's midlife crisis journey. I'm Kevin, and instead of going on a walkabout or buying an absurdly expensive car, I've decided to pursue a lifelong dream of writing. There's a very real chance this ends up being something only read by me, and if that's the case, at least I can use it as a kind of bizarre self-reflection journal. If you're interested in more info, check out the bio page. And congrats on getting in at the ground level (lolol).

I started writing the first book, Sunny Lake, back in December of 2024. I've had zero experience with any kind of fiction writing since high school at the most recent, so this was straight into the fire. Five months and about 90,000 words later, we had a working draft of something that I felt was at least not terrible, although most actual good authors will tell you that the first couple of tries are almost certainly going to be lousy. Some things I've already learned:

• Writing is harder than I remember!

• Writing is a lot more fun that I remember and I probably should have started doing this a long time ago!

• Submitting queries (essentially asking agents, publishers, etc.) to look at your work is like looking for a new job. The self-marketing part of this voyage is going to take some work on my end.

• I use a lot of the same words and need to work on diversifying my linguistic vernacular (shout out Wu-Tang financial).

• Most importantly, I look forward to every time I get to sit down and write, so despite already getting a handful of rejection emails, I feel pretty good about my chances of making this at worst a hobby for life and at best, hopefully, an honest profession.

As we go, I'll post updates here at least twice a week on where I'm at with my writing, what I'm learning about the process of becoming an author, and once I figure out some basics of webpage design (also starting from scratch here), I'll start to post some previews and chapters of writing.

Thanks in advance to the friends and family that will probably be the only ones to read these first couple posts!

-KPS