Hello, everyone! I apologize for not updating since my dissertation, but I have officially graduated with a Master’s in Creative Writing! I walked across the stage, wore the polyester robes, even pinned the damn cap to my head (which required far more time and effort than I am willing to admit, and still somehow looks a little crooked in every. Single. Photo.) It was a beautiful day, one I spent surrounded by the well-wishes of my family, friends, partner, and peers, and by the end of it, with a belly full of medium rare steak and blackberry pie from my celebration dinner, I felt like maybe, just maybe, I was a little bit wiser than a year ago when I first began my program.

Then, at 8 am next morning while I lay peacefully in bed, the very question you see above entered into my mind. I could physically feel my very soul recoiling, my hands clenching into the soft linens of the hotel sheets, as a soft rain began to patter gently onto the roof outside. I didn’t bother to wake my partner, or to reach for the phone to call anyone, because if I didn’t know the answer, now that I was at the very end of my journey, who else possibly could? In the weeks that have followed, I’ve avoided it like the plague, but now, I think, I’ve run out of room to run.

Because, truthfully, now what? I’ve accomplished the next hurdle, climbed to the next rung of the ladder, of which I’m starting to believe there may be no end. Technically, I know what the next step is– I need to start actually sending out my book and trying to get an agent, now that I have a full draft that I’m (mostly) happy with, all while continuing to work my beloved day-jobs at the bookstore and the literary magazine I’m employed with. I need to actually be using this blog as a place to post my writing, if I’m going to continue paying for the domain name. I guess, if I really get down to it, there’s only one thing I really, truly, have to do:

Keep writing.

I’m not entirely sure what the goal of this post is. I think “accountability” is the key phrase. But if you’ve read it, thank you, and I hope you’ll stay around for “what’s next.”