The Next Evolution

I've been writing stories and poems since childhood, but making the switch from writer to author in 2012 changed everything about my life. I was a 28-year-old mom juggling an 8-year-old, a 3-year-old, a failing relationship, and my mother's most recent health scare. I had been blogging off and on since around 2006—but the first novel I ever completed was written, edited, polished, covered, and published in December 2012. It gave me an escape from the emotional exhaustion in my life, hope for the future I imagined giving my children, and a way to battle the loss of joy that loomed around every corner.

Publishing that first book was like jumping from a super-spring-loaded launchpad. I opened my very first paperback in January 2013, and as I sobbed quietly, alone in my kitchen with a dream come to life in my hands, I knew there was no going back.

I started studying writer visibility and how to build a digital presence. I wanted to publish independently, retain creative control, and keep myself free of deadlines, contracts, and the risk of creative overwhelm...but I knew that as a mostly one-woman show, I had a lot to learn. As I honed my craft, learning to weave emotional stories and infuse characters with a realism that made readers fall in love, I threw my heart into learning how to make it as a writer.

How to keep creative fatigue at bay. How to sustain writing motivation. How to set digital boundaries. I built my author blog with well-written and carefully curated content, sharing my personal stories and life lessons even as I wrote 5 more novels in 2013. I got invited to conferences and signing events. I was featured on online podcasts for authors and readers long before BookTok was born. I had a semi-productive street team, an email subscription list, and a PO Box.

Then my life fell apart. And the next evolution began.

By the summer of 2015, my relationship was mostly over. My children and I were living with their grandmother, and they were struggling to cope with all the changes. Honestly, so was I.

Despite the effort I poured into posting intentional content on my author blog, lengthening time between new book releases led to audience disconnection I didn't know how to prevent, and in 2016, heightened political dissention began to soak everything in my world in poison. Everything from long-term friendships to casual book clubs suddenly became spaces to discuss policies, debate perceptions, and destroy people. Social media burnout and content fatigue delivered new hits to my emotional energy. My children began to develop serious health problems in the aftermath of their dad's abandonment, my favorite aunt died, both of my grandmothers died...and I simply couldn't keep up.

So I let it all go, focused on my kids, got us all into therapy. For a long time, this deeply discouraged writer stopped writing. The loss of my creative outlet felt like an amputation of some vital part of my soul, and I walked each day like a vagabond in the desert, going through the motions of life even as I desperately feared the death of my dream.

In 2019, my children and I moved into the apartment we live in now. My mother died, my ex made himself as non-existent as possible, and as my daughters adjusted to the new sense of quiet in our lives, I started rethinking visibility, reevaluating priorities, and wondering if reclaiming time and momentum might be possible. If this new space might birth a creative reset. One that would let me return, restart, rebuild. But then COVID hit.

By the time 2023 ended, I had entered into—and swiftly escaped from—a Disney-dream-turned-Brothers-Grimm marriage. My oldest daughter spent most of that year in a wheelchair with a sudden and unexplainable loss of function in her legs, my youngest daughter struggled to find compassion for a family she loved despite feeling overlooked and underprioritized, and my home looked a little like a recovering war zone...but my faith was stronger than ever. And I was writing again.

Since then, I've rewritten, repolished, and recovered FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM. I published the second edition in May of this year, and I'm nearly finished with its sequel, STILL FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM.

But here's the thing: digital burnout and content creator fatigue are still everyday issues for me. An online presence reset meant relearning sustainable content strategies, exploring what would and wouldn't work, adapting to every new platform shift—and juggling my desire to be a visible and positive presence in a social world where algorithms are set by animosity.

And it's happening again. The joy I feel when I write is being siphoned away by the soul-sucking bitterness that bleeds into every community, every comment thread, every passive(and not-so-passive)-aggressive interaction. Engagement is down, compassion for others is an increasingly rare treasure, and creators who refuse rage-bait and can't or wont pay to play on social media are swiftly buried or bullied out.

My various social media profiles show a modest following. I have just over 3000 followers in total, and I do all the things the "experts" recommend. I post daily (except Saturdays) on Facebook, Twitter/X, and Instagram, sharing quotes that inspire me, each quote paired with a story or lesson from my life. And every day, I sign on to all three platforms intentionally, to scout and interact on other pages. To engage. Not just to show up at the party by posting, but to walk through the crowd and mingle. To shake hands. To offer hope. To "be the change." I share occasional reels, YouTube shorts, and TikTok videos. I reply to nearly every comment I'm tagged in. I answer nearly every comment posted on any of my content. And on average, less than 50 people see my posts.

It's just not fun anymore...but I can't give up writing again. Not today. Not tomorrow. Maybe not ever. So I guess it's time for the next chapter in my evolution.

*****

I need to slow down. To get back to basics. To write in a way that I love, without spending all my time pouring into places with no visible ROI. I need to carve out a corner where I can stay connected—away from the cesspool of social media.

But I'm not disappearing from social media. I'll still be posting every day (again, except Saturdays), but I'm only logging in once a week to quietly check notifications, kindly respond to comments, and peacefully give the rage-bait a good old-fashioned Irish goodbye. Because I’m done chasing unwelcoming algorithms.

And I'm definitely not shutting down this blog. If anything, I'm hoping to make it easier for us to stay connected as a community that thrives...only, without the constant emotional feedback of a world overflowing with half-hearted but full-throated mic drops.

The next evolution for me is a no-algorithm alternative with simple content delivery. One where you won't have to search for my content anymore. One where a simple (and FREE!) subscription to my Substack blog and newsletter combo will automagically drop a weekly roundup of inspiration directly into your email inbox.

I'm hoping this shift in how I show up will help me manage the chaos with a little more constancy. I'm hoping it'll open the way for more writing that feels less like wasted effort. And I'm hoping you'll come along. That you'll subscribe. That you'll show up. Not for the algorithm, but for the prospect of a world where it's still possible for people like us to evolve and...