Owning up.

I wrote my first novel when I was thirteen. Ever since then, I've written almost every day on one work-in-progress or another. It's a rare day that I don't think about writing, or actually write a few words, a paragraph, a page, or a chapter.

And yet, for years--and I'm talking about real life, here, not my internet presence--unless you knew me very well, you would never know that I was a writer. Or that I had books published. Because I kept that part of my life not so hidden, but more under wraps.

It was easier to open up on the internet, and this blog, and elsewhere, but for all my talk about writing being a vocation, I was pretty quiet about it in person. And really, I wasn't that vocal about it here, either.

Last year, I realized that I was quickly coming upon a milestone. Twenty books published! That's--a lot. And I had more in the pipeline, to the tune that I could very easily hit 25 the year I turn 40. (I'd aim for 30, but I'm not sure the world could handle ten books from me in two years.)

But anyway, twenty books. Twenty novels. My first book (The Tenth Ghost) was published in 2001. Twenty books in eleven years.

And I made a decision, when my 20th book was published. No longer would I sit back and be quiet about it. Writing is one of my passions, after all! It's what I was meant to do in life.

That was one of my personal resolutions for this year. To not be quiet. To encourage others, if they express interest. To be proud of my accomplishments. Don't worry--I'm not going to start endlessly and relentlessly (and annoyingly) promoting; I'll write about what is important to me, that's all. And I will speak about what is important to me, as well.

First and foremost, I am a writer. It's time I started acting like one more often.