April is such a great month and quite eventful! This year, there was Easter, and of course, my birthday and coming up, my wedding anniversary. How cool is that!! We can also include Professional Baseball opening days (like the Braves in their new stadium). On the other side of the coin, there’s Income Tax Day and a few disastrous historical events I won’t mention here. But, to me, personally, April rocks!
I woke up this morning thinking about how we, as human beings, are free to pick and choose what we like and dislike. If we are blessed to live in a free society, then we not only choose what we like, but are able to obtain it, whether it’s the kind of job we want, the kind of food we like, or clothes, etc. Even my sweet dog, Bella, who thinks she’s a human, chooses whether or not to eat her food, obey her “Daddy” or me, sleep or lounge in the sunshine in the backyard or take a nap on her back with her head on a bed pillow (like I said–human). It’s a great blessing to be able to choose – to have the ability to pick. 
I chose my husband. We’ll be married three years on April 26th!! Together we chose where we live, how our home is decorated (well, mostly me), and what flowers to plant in the yard. As a child, he chose to be a musician, a pianist. Yes, he is talented, but he could have ignored his talent and chosen another profession. In my younger days, I simply chose to work at jobs that helped pay the bills eventually finding situations that motivated me to take on additional responsibility. However, not until the last ten years, did I choose to take the proverbial bull by the horns and make writing my chosen profession. I choose to do what I do. I am blessed to be able to make it my full-time career.
On that note, I would like to introduce another writer who chose to accept my invitation to be a guest blogger for me. Please welcome Julia Mills (pen name, Julia Victorian). Julia lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, three kids, and one rambunctious Labrador retriever. She dreams of one day moving to Paris, France or owning a vacation home in Hawaii.
I have a little confession to make. I am not a Southerner. However, I do live south of San Francisco. Does that count?
So, I’m a writer. That still feels funny to say. Even stranger to have printed on my business cards. And though I’m not published yet, I’ve decided to own it.
I. AM. A. WRITER!
BUT. I wasn’t always a writer. I started off as a reader. When I was a child, I took stacks and stacks of books home from our local library: I read all the time, even under my bed covers at night with a flashlight – Harry the Dirty Dog, Frog and Toad, A Wrinkle in Time, and Chronicles of Narnia.
As I turned into a teenager, I had a fascination with books and magazines and art. If I wasn’t taking art classes, I was writing. Writing in journals, writing poetry. Except writing wasn’t something I saw as a potential career so I studied marketing and worked at a winery in California. I got married, had three kids, and my life was centered on family.
AND…
A few years ago when my youngest child entered kindergarten, I was supposed to go back to work. That was my agreement with my husband. I’d be with adults – Hurray! No more handling temper tantrums – Hurray!
HOWEVER…
The day I dropped my daughter off at school, I came home and realized I didn’t want to go back to work. I wanted to write. My husband I made a new agreement. One year to write a novel. Then I’d go back to work.
I wrote a novel and pitched the manuscript to a publisher who asked to read it. I thought it was a romance until she kindly explained why it wasn’t. Lo and behold, I’ve been writing women’s fiction. Who knew! And sadly, she didn’t represent women’s fiction.
Once I understood what exactly I was writing, I joined the Women’s Fiction Writers Association where I’ve met so many wonderful, supportive writers.
Now you might be asking, what happened to that manuscript? This is what writers call, sitting in the drawer (meaning it actually resides on my computer’s hard drive) Someday, I’ll take it out and rewrite it.
Second manuscript. Sits on my hard drive. Also for another day.
Third manuscript – It has two main characters, written in the point of views of a 30-year-old attorney living in Manhattan and her grandmother who owns a vineyard and winery in Napa Valley. It follows three generations of women in the same family who are estranged from one another. There’s also a dash of romance. This is the one I believe will take flight in the world.
If you want to see what I’m up to or find out when one of these manuscripts will be published, follow me online. My website is www.juliavictorine.com. From there you can link to me on Facebook and Twitter. And on Pinterest, you’ll see pictures I’ve pinned that correspond to my stories.
You can find Julia on the following:
Website: www.juliavictorine.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorJuliaVictorine
Twitter: @JuliavMills
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/julia_victorine
Thank you, Julia. So glad you’ve chosen to be a Women’s Fiction writer like myself.
And, by the way, thank you all for taking the time to “CHOOSE” to view my blog.
See you all in May!!
Jody
Jody Herpin 