I taught college English (mostly freshman comp, but some lit courses, too) for 5 years at a Big 10 university while working on my Ph.D. in literature. When the teaching contract ran out, I worked at a "dumb job" in risk management for a couple of years to pay the rent while I churned away at my dissertation, but decided that life in the Ivory Towers of academia just wasn't for me. I left ABD (all but dissertation) and went into nonprofit/corporate training for a while. Then I had kids and became a SAHM.
After my 2nd son was born, I was feeling trapped and bored and needed to do something with my brain, but I wasn't ready to leave my new baby in daycare for another "dumb job" either. I was really craving a career that mattered to me.
To make a long story short, I stumbled across an historical figure--a Norsewoman in Iceland 1000 years ago--who captured my imagination. I started trying to find out more about her, couldn't, and decided that the only way to know her better was to write a novel about her life. As I was planning, I realized that it's more than one novel: it's a series about her whole family.
I finished a draft of the first book in the series this summer, and it's with a freelance editor (still...). I'm hoping to revise and publish within the next year, sooner if possible.
Add to that my career as a homeschooling mom and a full-time poster on this forum, and it's no wonder my house is such a mess!
