Two years ago I announced that I was taking a sabbatical from writing. I was burned out, exhausted, frustrated, and ready to be done with *waves hands around* all this. Initially my break was only supposed to be from marketing and social media, but shortly after I announced my break, I also stopped writing.

Then I hibernated.

Well, in my own way. Those of you who know me in person know that I rarely stop moving, and that’s been true over the past two years, but I removed the yoke that had been weighing me down and spent my time doing things I enjoyed. Reading, being outdoors, wrangling my very demanding puppy. I volunteered in my community, I started a writers’ happy hour — something I’d wanted to do since before the pandemic. I connected with old friends and met new ones. I came up with a bucket list for my 50th birthday.

Toward the end of 2023, the itch to write crept back. I tip-toed in with a daily writing challenge, started a book inspired by events in my community, then decided that I would publish my tenth novel in time for my 50th birthday. That felt like an iconic way to end my sabbatical, but I worried it would also mean diving RIGHT back into the frenetic pace I’d fought to leave behind.

So I found a balance. I put my current wip on pause and made getting The Quiet Unraveling of Eve Ellaway ready to publish priority number one. While I increased my online presence, I kept reminding myself of my goal. I invested in new ways to promote the launch (many of which are still in progress) but didn’t stress if I couldn’t think of anything notable to share on social media.

Then I signed with a literary agent, and things really got chaotic! I shared my now two unfinished first drafts with her and together we agreed which one I should work on. While publishing Eve. We didn’t have a firm timeline — “spring” was agreed upon — and I last week I finally finished the first draft! ::happy dance::

I have A LOT of editing ahead of me to truly make this book shine, but I’m excited to do the work. It’s another suspense — domestic/romance this time — and is set in summer on a sleepy lake with lots of hidden secrets.

Today is almost exactly two years since I began my sabbatical, and the timing of where I’m at, of finishing the first draft, feels right. When I first declared my sabbatical I told people it would be roughly a year, but I knew it might be longer, and while I’ve been back at it for many months, reflecting on my time “off” now feels like an official conclusion to that chapter of my life.

I’m still me, but I’ve changed a lot in the past two years. As much as I needed to turn inside myself to rest, I missed the level of community engagement I used to have. Here’s how I’ve reestablished that balance:

• after 4 years off, I’m mentoring a high school student from our alternative high school
• last summer I volunteered with my county district to help vote out Christian Nationalists from our county government (that’s what inspired my other unfinished book)
• I joined the board of my community’s new Pride organization and am on the executive committee of the festival committee (Grand Haven Pride is June 14!!)
• last August I entered a mountain bike race on a whim and now I’m OBSESSED. I joined a female mountain biking group (men often join us but they must be accompanied by a woman), own several team jerseys, and last weekend I rode a 42-mile TOUGH trail in mid-Michigan!

If you’re struggling to keep your head above water, take a step back and figure out if you can press pause. There will certainly be things that cannot wait, but you might be surprised by what can be put off for a few months. Your mental health will thank you.