Chasing Dreams in the Middle of the Madness

 

It’s Sunday morning, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at my to-do list.
I’ve got two manuscripts open on my desk, edits marked in red, coffee cooling far too quickly beside me, and a toddler trying to see how many blocks he can fit into the dog’s water bowl.

Welcome to my world.

I’m 14 days deep into a work streak at my corporate job—salary life, which means “weekend” is just a suggestion—and I’m still staring down a mountain of unpaid bills that seem to grow no matter how hard I work. The Arizona heat has been relentless, pushing 119 degrees most days, but the monsoon clouds have been generous enough to roll in at night. Twice this week, I’ve fallen asleep to the patter of rain against the window. It’s a small gift, but one I hold on to. So, I can't complain about the days the rain and clouds don't find me.

I’ve got two adult kids living with me—my daughter, who turns 25 in a couple of weeks, along with her two kids, and my son, who’s 21. Our house is full and noisy, equal parts chaos and laughter. There are Legos in the laundry room, tiny socks under the couch, and half-drunk juice cups mysteriously appearing on every flat surface. And yet, in the middle of all that, I’m chasing something I didn’t think I’d ever chase again—my dream of writing full-time.

For years, I tucked away finished books in digital folders, telling myself no one would want to read them. I convinced myself I didn’t have the time, the money, or the energy to push for something as impractical as being an author. But something shifted this past year. Maybe it was hitting 51 and realizing that retirement feels like a far-off fairy tale. Maybe it was the ache for the life I once had—off-grid, simpler, connected to the land. Or maybe it was watching my grandkids play and thinking, What kind of example am I setting if I stop before I even try?

So here I am, throwing myself into a plan that sounds a little crazy even to me: releasing 52 books next year. It’s ambitious. It’s exhausting. It’s exciting. And it’s the one thing that makes me feel like maybe, just maybe, I can rewrite the ending of my own story.

If you’ve been following my 1000 Days to the Cabin series on TikTok, you know this is more than a career shift—it’s my roadmap to the life I want. The cabin is more than a building. It’s peace. It’s independence. It’s knowing I won’t be answering to a corporate calendar forever.

Every blog post here, every newsletter, every late-night writing sprint—these are the stepping stones to that cabin. And if you’re reading this, you’re walking that path with me.

Here’s to the rain, the chaos, and the chase.
The dream isn’t going to catch itself.