The theme this month on Heart-Shaped Glasses is Spring, and somehow it seems very fitting that I should be posting my first blog entry now. Here in Northeast Ohio, Spring held off for an obscenely long time this year. Winter kept us in its icy grip for so long that most of us started to despair. But even in Cleveland, Winter doesn’t last forever, and Spring arrived at last.
As I was
casting about for a suitable topic for this post, it occurred to me (after an inspiring poke from a friend) that I feel somewhat like Spring after a long, hard Winter. A bit ragged, squidgy ‘round the edges, covered with muddy paw prints. (Okay, I’m not really sure how the paw prints fit into the analogy, but it’s been raining for two days and I have two big dogs, so paw prints are on my mind. And the floor.)
But underneath the mess, there is growth, renewal, and hope. Walking through my neighborhood I see trees beginning to fill with leaves, rose bushes sending up tender new shoots beneath last year’s hard brown stems, babies in strollers, puppies on leashes. Everything old is new again, and full of possibi
lity.
My writing is feeling new again too, or at least it has finished hibernating. I am finally completing edits for my last book (even if I have to chain myself to my chair). I started a new book. I joined a fabulous critique group, and now a new blog. I am spending more time on me, and my writing. This is my year; I can feel it. (If I say it here, that will make it happen, right?)
I look forward to sharing the journey with you, muddy paws and all.
About Marin McGinnis
A lawyer in real life, Marin McGinnis feeds the more creative part of her soul by writing Victorian era romance and mystery. She's spent almost half her life in a tree-lined, unabashedly liberal suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. She's been married to the same great guy for over 20 years, and has one teen-aged son. They all live together in a drafty old house with their two standard poodles, Larry and Sneaky Pete. While her very first book will languish under the bed, the next book, Stirring Up the Viscount, won two contests in 2013 and was published by The Wild Rose Press in January 2015. Her next two books, Secret Promise and Tempting Mr. Jordan, are also available from Wild Rose Press. Marin currently serves as President of the Northeast Ohio chapter of Romance Writers of America and is hard at work on the next book. You can find her here, at marinmcginnis.com, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, and Pinterest.
