2 Hours 2 Minutes and 59 Seconds

I picked this title for my first blog entry because that was how long the phone call was that inspired me to finally start writing a blog! I was talking to one of my very best friends in the world. The kind of friend that makes you mad but you still love them no matter what. The kind of friend that leaves a hole in your heart should they disappear. The kind of friend that tells you about yourself and your first response is anger then you take the feedback and apply it to your life and you realize it was some of the best advice you ever received. My love affair with reading and writing started about 20 years ago and just like any classic love affair the love continues to grow. I love writing so much that I obtained a degree in Writing but I have not allowed my love to manifest into anything more than writing for myself and those I love. In the past year there have been several moments of inspiration for me, a friend who wrote and published a novel, several friends sharing their blogs on Facebook and encouragement from numerous friends. But I had a true moment of clarity last week when I was reading a novel, I stopped and said to myself there could be a 40 something woman somewhere in the world holding a book that I wrote, reading a book that I wrote, enjoying a book that I wrote if only I had the courage to write it. The only different between me and Sister Souljah or Colin Channer or Terry McMillan or E Lynn Harris is that they took the first step, they wrote the first word and they continued to write words until they were done. They did not allow the fear of judgment or rejection or failure to stop them from realizing their dream, from allowing their love to grow. So here is my first step, I pray that when I reach the end of this journey it will end the way that all classic love stories end, happily ever after