New Chapter

Tonight, I started a new chapter--literally, actually--in my life adventures. For the next ten months, I will be part of a group, put together by the Children's Media Association (CMA), that will write and publish an Amazon e-book for children.
 
When I first heard about the project, I knew it sounded exciting. What I didn't know was whether I could handle the time for something new. For something that would, no doubt, force me to step beyond the day-to-day schedule that I knew, and to put myself "out there" doing something I had never done before. While I may write hundreds of words here daily, I have never published a book (e- or otherwise). I have never written something I hope my children and others will curl up with. I have only rarely sat in a room with others who would critique my writing. The thought of it all, while exciting, was pretty scary.
 
I dragged my feet on applying (and actually re-wrote my application multiple times before sending it), but, as you can see from what you've read so far, I did apply, and I did get in, and tonight, I sat at a table with the twenty or so other people who will be my collaborators for the next ten months. Some of them clearly had concerns similar to mine, but what came across much more at that table was the excitement part. The twenty of us will be making the time and putting ourselves "out there" to make this happen, one chapter each.
 
It's not easy to start something new, especially when you might feel as though you are just mastering where you are in life now. But do you ever finish a book if you read the same chapter over and over? It may be the best chapter in the book, but it is not the whole book. And there are a lot of books out there to be read, most of which you'll miss if you don't start the next chapter.
 
My first contribution, my chapter, draft one, is due in a month. Stay tuned for what, I imagine, will be the continuing saga of this new "chapter" in my life.
 
Just another reminder (because sometimes we need them) that I am not washed up yet...