As my supposed-to-be four day / turned-into-two-week escapade wraps up… I am thankful for many things. I’m thankful for my 
refreshed creativity; I’m thankful to be around my family during the holidays; and I am particularly thankful for a conversation I had with my twelve year old niece this morning.
While I was downing coffee after coffee sitting at the table scribbling into my notebook as I do most mornings, my niece approached with the basic question ‘Is your writing gonna be turned into books?’ Naturally my reply was ‘Of course’ to which she asked ‘What kind of books?’ and I began rattling off the half a dozen projects I’m working on. As can be expected, she was most interested in hearing about the young adult fiction I’m working on.
‘Kids books are better,’ she let me know. ‘They have better stories, and more characters, and the covers are better. They have pictures and stuff.’ She then proceeded to tell me about the ways I can improve what I’m working on while I eagerly took notes. Then she helped me paint my fingernails blue.
I don’t want to get so caught up in making money off writing that I forget why I love it. This hasn’t happened yet, but quitting to write full time does all sorts of odd things to you. And I don’t want to write for anyone else… I want to write what I believe in… what I believe people connect with.
For the first time in my trip I’m understanding something new about what’s coming out of it… it isn’t about a dramatic end to my New York City stint… it’s about the new direction my writing is starting to take because of the experience.