Still Climbing

I’m afraid I might have been misleading you, and myself, for the past couple months.

You see, the name of my blog CRUISING ALTITUDE, and the little blurb below it, leaves you with the impression that I’ve reached a point in my life where I feel comfortable leaning back and just enjoying the ride. That was certainly true when I created this site and took a measure of where I stood. A wonderful wife, three awesome children (two of which in college), a job I love going to every day, and interests (writing) that filled in the gaps. I had survived the turbulence of child-rearing, professional growth, educational commitment, job-relocations, community involvement, and multiple arrest warrants (okay, I made that last part up). My life really did feel like it was on cruise control.

Then something unexpected happened. My dabbling with writing started to morph into a full-blown passion. A simple blog entry turned into a short story. The short story evolved into a novella. The novella bloomed into a full-length novel. The novel spawned yet another. What would be the next logical step, an attempt at publication?

Since the first of the year I’ve made it my mission to pursue this to whatever end. Anything done half-heartedly will only result in disillusioned failure, so I’m all-in. Thanks to this blogging community I now have generous people working with me to critique my work *waves hi* as well as influence my development as a writer. I’m no longer content to sit back on my laurels and simply exist.

So, the auto-pilot has been disengaged and we’re climbing once more. Not to avoid any sort of bumpy air or to conserve fuel, but to move toward a better view of the stars. In the days to come I’ll probably change the blurb about me to better reflect my current state of mind, but I won’t be changing my blog name. Instead of representing where I’m presently at, it will stand for what I strive to attain.

I sincerely hope you’ll continue to fly air-DL. Wherever your ultimate destination may be, I’ll do my best to make it an enjoyable journey.