Happy birthday, Skeezicks!

I started writing my first romance novel on a whim. I worked two or three hours a day for several months (I was a fulltime homemaker, so I wrote while the boys were at school and my hunk o' burnin' love was at work), and nobody knew what I was doing. Not because I was ashamed of writing romance, but because I was afraid talking about my book idea would kill some of the magic I was discovering on my own.

"What are you doing?" my husband asked one night when I was so caught up in my story that the writing had begun to spill over into the evening hours. "Writing the great American novel?"

"Well, as a matter of fact . . ." I wasn't sure how "great" it would turn out to be, but I told him I was indeed writing a novel.

"Huh. Well, that's good," he said, and went back to his newspaper.

My husband believes I am brilliant. If I told him I wanted to run for President, he'd go right out and have some Vote for Brenda buttons made up. So when I told him I was writing a novel he took me at my word. It never occurred to him that I might fail. He's blind that way.

The truth is that I've failed at many things over the years. My husband is invariably surprised by my failures, and immediately shrugs them off. If his wife can't do something, it probably can't be done. I repeat, he's blind that way.

And so is my sister. She believes I could flap my arms and fly if I put my mind to it. But the rest of my family and friends only raised their eyebrows or quickly changed the subject when I told them I was writing a book. Some of them even laughed, believing I was making a joke. I know they love me, but it couldn't have been any clearer what they were thinking: Brenda is 45 years old. If she had the talent to write a book, she'd have done it before now.

I like to tell people I'm a self-motivated writer. I enjoy the fellowship of other writers, but I can do this without their encouragement. In fact, the first contact I made with other writers was after I sold my first book. But sometimes I wonder if I could write without the unwavering support of my husband and my sister. I am profoundly aware of how God has used them to bless me.

My husband doesn't read my blog, but my sister does, even when she's supposed to be working. And today's her birthday, so I just wanted to tell everyone how great she is.