What! Relocating! What About My Novel?

What relocating?

The panic set in the moment my husband came home from work and said we needed to have a serious discussion about moving back to Michigan.

I had a total meltdown.

Not because I didn't want to move. But because moving meant giving up on a dream I hadn't even started yet.

The Idea I Was Afraid to Lose

I'd had an idea for a thriller churning in my mind for years. A few thoughts saved on a flash drive. Nothing more.

But we were living in New Jersey, close to New York City—the heart of the publishing world. All of the most successful literary agents were there. I'd researched them, studied directories, and convinced myself that proximity mattered.

I thought I needed to be near the agents to have any chance of getting published.

Moving to Michigan felt like giving up before I'd even begun.

The Decision to Move

After I calmed down, my husband laid out the reasons: His mother was declining. Each trip back to Michigan took ten to twelve hours by car, and I was terrified of flying. A conglomerate had acquired his company, and he didn't want to lose his benefits or become a statistic.

I had enough years in teaching that I could keep my pension even if we moved. My sisters were in the Midwest. The kids were finishing college. His family needed us.

It made sense.

But my heart belonged to the idea of being near New York. Near the agents. Near the dream.

I didn't yet realize that geography didn't matter — that agents were just a click away, and you could query online rather than in person.

I was naive. And I was terrified.

What I Didn't Know Then

At the time, I didn't even have a single chapter written. I had no idea what querying was. I'd never heard of a synopsis. I didn't know how any of this worked.

I just knew that all the important agents were in New York, and I was about to move a thousand miles away.

It felt like the end before I'd even started.

Moving Back to the Midwest

We sold our home. The movers packed our belongings. I said goodbye to my friends and neighbors.

And I cried all the way back to Michigan.

But our friends and family welcomed us home. And as fate would have it, we stayed with my mother-in-law. That's where we needed to be.

I had to put my novel aside to help with the details of her care.

We settled into rural America. Reconnected with old friends and family. My husband got his real estate license. I helped out at one of the schools where I'd taught years before.

Life took over. The flash drive sat untouched.

The Moment I Almost Quit Forever

Months passed.

We started searching for a new home. We built one. We established new routines.

And my mother-in-law passed away.

After the funeral, the planners settled the estate, and everything finally settled down. I had a moment when I looked at that flash drive and thought: Who am I kidding?

I wasn't in New York anymore. I had no connections. No agent was going to find me in rural Michigan. I didn't even know how to start.

It would have been so easy to let it go.

Many people would have.

Why I Didn't Quit

I don't know what changed.

Maybe it was having time again. Maybe it was something that was mine after months of caring for others. Maybe it was the memory of that idea that had lived in my head for so long.

One weekend, I pulled out my laptop.

I opened that flash drive.

And I started writing.

What I Learned

The days still go by. Time ticks. And if you don't get your dream on paper, it will never happen.

Writing is a process, not to be taken lightly. And if you pursue any dream, you have to put in the work. Period.

Geography doesn't matter. Agents don't care where you live. They care about your story.

I didn't know that when we moved. I thought leaving New York meant leaving my chance at publication.

But I was wrong.

The novel didn't need New York. It needed me to sit down and write it.

So I rolled up my sleeves and typed.

It wasn't pretty. It wasn't technically perfect. But I wrote it.

And that flash drive with a few scattered thoughts? It became 80,000 words. A complete manuscript. A story with a beginning, middle, and end.

The Truth About Dreams

Life will always give you reasons to quit.

A move. A family crisis. A full-time job. Exhaustion. Fear. Self-doubt.

You can let those reasons win. Or you can choose to write anyway.

I almost let the move stop me before I even started.

But I didn't.

And that's the only reason my novel exists.

- Dianne