I have a new home. Two new homes, really. I’m attempting to live in both at one time.

One is this new website and blog that I’ve created after a long time away from blogging. If you’ve known me for longer than two years, then  you’ll know I used to sustain a photography blog. I let it smolder and sizzle out into nothing when I decided that I wanted to talk about more than just photography and shift my focus primarily on the craft of creative writing instead.

It also took some time for me to rationalize spending time on a blog instead of working on my novel. Did I mention that yet? No? Oh, sorry. I’m working on a novel. That’s probably going to be a large part of what I discuss here, along with general thoughts on writing.

I realized I needed an outlet for my thoughts on writing when, after a particularly scintillating and life-affirming writing session, I started to write a Facebook post about my thoughts on revision and craft. It was only after the paragraphs and lines kept spinning out of me like a never-ending skein of yarn that I realized I had a little more to say than what would be appropriate for a Facebook post. I decided it would be more merciful to allow my dear friends to opt into these thoughts of mine rather than be assaulted with a block of text in their news feeds. So the post got the copy/paste treatment and was saved for my future blog rather than being splattered on the walls of social media.

This blog is one of my new homes. The other is the apartment I recently moved into with my husband, my dog, and my baby-to-be. I guess that’s another thing to tell you about me: I’m expecting a baby soon.

We moved into an apartment after three years of owning our own home, and it’s going to be a bit of an adjustment. I’m still learning the ebbs and flows of this soundscape full of crying children, heavy footsteps, and barking dogs. Sometimes I sit and imagine what the source of certain mystery sounds could be, but I can only imagine using the very limited information provided to me. I learn a little bit about the people who live around me every time I heard their sounds, but mostly I must simply imagine what (the hell!) they could be doing up there.

That is what I hope to do with this blog. I invite you to come put your ear to the drywall and listen in to the creaks and groans of my life, this writing life, and to fill in the gaps of your imagination with the few details I can give you. And maybe, by inhabiting this space together as neighbors, we can fill these pages with life. Life, and the sound of humans discussing ideas together. Online, I guess that sounds most like fingers tapping on keyboards.

Be a good human, won’t you, and leave something in the comments.