Can you pass my second chance, please?

There is something completely deflating about following Anny Cook. That woman makes so much sense that I really struggle to find something to add. I'm gonna try anyway, cause it's a great topic. Be gentle with me.

I can't say I have a lot of experience with second chances, per se. I haven't re-dated, re-married, or returned to anyone or any place in my life. But the second chances I do know well are the professional and marital ones.

Marital: As Anny said, they are daily. Every time there's a disagreement, a differing of opinion, even a financial crisis a marriage finds its bearings and starts fresh. You'd no more give up on a minor problem than you would should yourself in the foot. Oh wait, my uncle actually did that. Yes, he did. But that's beside the point. You work through problems, generally. But I'm not going to linger on this point. I'm going to jet on through to the next example... professional second chances.

Professional: I'm in the midst of a rebirth so I feel like I can discuss this with some sense of authority. I haven't openly publicized this so as not to affect sales and whatnot, but things are shaking up. A little while ago I posted something on my personal blog about Gray Spaces. I told everyone, after their expressed concerns, that I had two identities. I went public about the double pen names for the record. There was more that I didn't say and will introduce today.

At the beginning of next year I'm closing down my pen names. Both of them. I won't be writing as either Kelly Kirch or Katie Blu because I'm taking my second chance. I'll be writing as Kelly Marstad. I'll be moving into the inspirational genre. For those of you who need a translation, that would be Christian Fiction.

Now I've heard a lot of comments on this already but basically it comes down to two things. First, my husband's career is at stake and that is tremendously important to me. I don't want to be the reason he is fired and black-balled from his vocation. I love what I write but that's what leads me to the second reason. I've been struggling with the decisions I've made and completely lacking in peace for them. The minute I decided to go this route, I felt like a weight had been lifted.

The second chance at my career is at hand. I'm not ashamed of what I've written which is why I'm telling all of you about it, making it public. I won't hide from it either. I will have to explain my past down the road to those in the Inspirational market, but then that's nothing new to me at this point.

I still have works out there that have yet to be published but they are contracted, and I will continue to promote them and sign them. Why? Because I'm not ashamed, just heading down a different track. The disconcerting thing is that my new market focus doesn't really embrace mainstream authors. I'll be starting over like an unpublished writer as my backlist carries no weight and I'm moving in a market that is REALLY picky about what constitutes overt sexual content. One woman told me her heroine commented on the hero's nice legs in one book and his back-side in another and that was a risk. Heh.

This second chance is scary, new, a little terrifying, and I may be making a huge mistake. That's why it's been under wraps. But I have to give it a go without burning my bridges behind me. So while I'm not giving a second chance, I'm collecting on one and that, my friends, scares me to pieces.

~Kelly~