The Write Stuff

Chapter 1 Wide Open Spaces

I hate packing. I don't want to be overloaded with things that I don't need, yet I don't want to be without something important. I plan on coming back to Iowa to visit, but who knows how long it'll be between now and then.

My Ford Explorer is loaded and my gas tank full. I've got my aux cord plugged in, and my music ready to go. I still use my iPod that I got for my birthday years ago. I figure if it still works, why not use it?

I can't wait to start over in Nashville. I just spent six years of my life with the wrong man. Sometimes it's hard to see things about a person when you've got your rose-colored glasses on. It wasn't until his favorite way to shut me up was to grab me by the throat and slam me against the wall that I decided it was enough.

I can't say that I regret those six years. I am who I am because of it. I don't think I would have the confidence that I do now without him being in my life. Although he wasn't always supportive of my dreams, he did encourage me to not give a shit what others thought. If anything positive came from that relationship, it was his constant push to do things out of my comfort zone.

And that's how I ended up here; driving myself down to Nashville, Tennessee. I took a leap out of my comfort zone and submitted some songs that I wrote to a writing competition. I learned about it through some friends from my town's radio station. I was shocked when I was contacted by one of their affiliates in Nashville. I was interviewed over the phone and they broadcasted it in one of their syndicated radio shows.

But now the real pressure is on. Can I duplicate the same "magic" that happened with those songs? Or was it a fluke thing?