I guess the first step here is to introduce myself.  So far I’ve been yammering on like a new hire at orientation without the good sense to tell you a bit about myself.  By now you are probably rolling your eyes and wishing you had sat next to someone else.  My apologies for being rude and self absorbed.  I’ve never been much for small talk. So here goes:

• I am a manager of a team of 13 web developers, database administrators, analysts and projects managers and have a degree in chemical engineering
• I am a mom to a first grader which means I am also a soccer coach, a working mother, a doer of laundry, and owner of two cats, one hamster, about 50 snails and a host of roly polies.
• I am a crafter with a primary focus on knitting, but also enjoy sewing
• I am a reader, currently engrossed in John Scalzi’s “Lock In” and listening to Stephen King’s “On Writing”

While I think this all makes me a fascinating well rounded person, it does not explain why I am publically entering the blogosphere.  I am also an aspiring writer and novelist (holy crap it is scary to write that out loud.)  My first book is about half done and was abandoned because my second book couldn’t be ignored.  It flew out of me in a frenzy, and the story took my breath away.  I was about three quarters done when my husband suffered a major depressive episode.  (He doesn’t believe in half-assing anything.)  I sporadically worked on my book, but life took so much out of me that I had no emotional energy left to give and the project languished.

In November my husband was declared cured, for this episode, and I had my own mini-breakdown.  Then, my characters started calling to me again, so it’s time to start writing.  This time I’m going two directions: the blog and the novel.

Why the blog?  Well, it’s really because I could buy the afthead domain and I love the idea of aftheads.  I also have the occasional story that has nothing to do with my novel.  I am not really sure what I hope to get out of the blog.  I make a good living, so I don’t need to make money from it.   I guess I’m looking for some virtual companionship while I go on this new journey into the writing world.

Nice to meet you!