I never wrote anything other than a term paper until I sat down to write His Choice of a Wife. I loved Jane Austen from the moment I cracked Pride and Prejudice’s spine, and I enjoyed JAFF for almost as long, but never wrote so much as a sentence of fiction. So what on earth made me think that I could, or even should, write a story of my own?
I was a librarian until I had my son and decided to stay home. Transitioning from working professional to stay-at-home mom was quite an adjustment! Once we settled into a routine, I felt isolated and was questioning the things that defined me. Was I just ‘Mom’ now, and was that enough? I had enjoyed reading online cute JAFF stories with a faster way to the happy ending, and one day during nap time I thought, “I could write a short story.”
I intended to entertain myself, and possibly someone else in the JAFF community, by writing something short and sweet that hinted at a quicker way to Darcy and Elizabeth’s happy ever after the Hunsford proposal. Soon I had the entire story, with twists and cliffhangers and romantic longing, plotted. If I hadn’t been so eager to see the project through, to have something of my own beyond being ‘Mommy’, His Choice of a Wife might have stayed in my head.
I fell into a routine: morning nap time to research and outline the next chapter. Afternoon nap: write what was planned that morning. If there was any other spare moment: go back and review. Before my son turned one, I typed “The End”. Writing helped me find and strengthen my identity beyond motherhood. Researching, plotting, outlining, writing, and editing His Choice of a Wife and then other stories filled nap times through my son’s infancy and toddlerhood. Soon preschool mornings were set aside to write and now, once my son gets on the school bus, I happily head back to the laptop!