So... I’m back and WOO BOY, it’s been a long journey to get back here. The world is very different now. There’s a WOKE CAUTION tab on entries here that simply wasn’t a thing when I wrote my little stories back in those halcyon days of the mid 00s. As you can see by the pic below and my profile pic, A LOT has happened in the intervening years. The most obvious thing is... I’m a woman.
I made a critical girl mistake that any rational woman would scoff at me for: I refused to buy my actual dress size. Yes, I'm one of those types. Sure I could have got that red A line in a 16 (XL) and probably had room to spare, but no, I went for 12 (L). My ego will not allow me to be a 16. So on go the spanx and in I will wedge myself and hope that the industry is also playing to my ego by having a size 12 actually be a 16. I know, I know it's shallow. I should just be comfortable, and not worry about numbers but man... no! I will not kowtow to my overindulgence.
So, yeah. Life happened, huh? My wife and I welcomed an adorable baby girl into the world and the days since have been just so full of joy. It's been hard to really think about the girl-side with so many things going on professionally and personally. I gotta tell you, when you're over 6 feet tall in your thirties and packing an extra 20 lbs, you really consider hanging up the skirt. Mine had been hung for well on 9 years and I was no longer the 155 lb waif I once was.
I was finally able to write a new chapter in If The Shoe Fits... and posting it here was terrifying. I was so confident before and I felt like the wind was at my back. I was so worried about letting people down, or scratch that, letting my characters down that I sat in silence staring at the submit key -the wind clearly at my face. Whatever the consequence of my decision to post ALEJANDRO as Chapter 5 and not GUYS & DOLLS which will now be CHAPTER 6, I feel relieved. It's out there.
Checks can be made out & sent to:
Joyce Melton
1001 Third St.
Space 80
Calimesa, CA 92320
USA
Note: $6000 is the operating, maintenance and upgrade budget. Amounts received in excess of the $6000 will be applied to long term debt accrued over the last 19 years.
