It’s a bit weird. For some reason over the last few days, I have been wondering if I was “allowed” to write the story I did in Not Alone on the Voyage. I have no idea where the heck this thought came from, because it’s never been a question I have been asked.

I will admit, however, to having been concerned that the people here – those who have lived their entire lives here (or darn near as close) – would react to this story. Did I have the right to put that out into the world?

Maybe that’s why I spent so long keeping the story hidden away. Perhaps that is part of the subconscious battle I had to wage before I came to the point of being truly ready to release the story out into the world. Even though I had always felt compelled to write what I did – because I firmly believe the story picked me in a way – was I the one who should have written it?

But the more I think about it, the truth – as I see it – reveals itself to me. This is the story that came to me, wanted to come through me, and speak thorough me. And it was never a question of a quick reveal and an instantaneous writing process, but a couple of years in the making.

I’ve never been the kind of writer that writes something and keeps right on going with a particular idea. Something comes to me. I write down a blurb. I try to figure out what the hell I was trying to say (in some cases where the hell that came from) and just exactly where I am supposed to go with it now.

Not Alone on the Voyagetook two years to go anywhere. I have bits and pieces hidden away in notebooks all over the place waiting for their moment to show me the path forward. Some of these pieces were inspired by something I was actually experiencing at the time – perhaps my own way of finding a way through the related emotions – and some of them have come from outer space. By that, I mean I have no idea what possessed me to even write those things down, nor do I have the foggiest idea as to what I am supposed to do next.

So…they sit waiting. And as I have learned in the past, nothing will move forward until it is supposed to move forward. So until the universe shows me the road map, nothing will happen. This approach may sound annoying to some, but it’s the one that works for me – and really the only one I have ever known.

If I’m being honest, I’ve never written anything to gain instant notoriety. In my days as a reporter at small newspapers, it was never about getting recognition for one particular article I had written. My goal, and my intention, was to always be someone who the readers would enjoy reading for a while and over a long period of time. I’ve never written anything to get famous or rich – I’ve written because I have no other choice.

With my book, the one thing that truly mattered to me was releasing the story – and having people enjoy reading it. So far, that has been the case.

And that, has always been my goal…