Yes. A Book. Feel free to roll your eyes.
Typing that to you feels a little uncomfortable, because writing a book means you must believe you have something really really important to say. And with that must come at least a little bit of swagger, right?
I think its important to note this isn't a memoir. I've got a little swagger, but not near enough to think anyone wants or needs a memoir from a 40 year old beekeeper. But I do have swagger in two areas: first, I'm queen of the Texas two step. (For my non-Texans, this is a partner dance done to country music.) And second, I'm a damn good beekeeper. And I'm damn good at teaching beekeeping. Beekeeping and teaching are two skills that don't come easy, and I've got just enough of these two skill sets to make me really good at teaching beekeeping.
I recognize the limitations of the current beekeeping how to's on the market, and I think I can do better. I am doing better. I started writing this book last January: a beekeeping how to with a heavy dose of good old fashioned story telling. I got about 30% of the book done in three weeks, then in an instant, my life was changed forever. I learned I was pregnant and all extracurriculars came to a screeching halt. Not only did I have to prep for a baby, learn how to take care of a baby, and prepare myself for an all natural birth, but I also had to come to terms with the fact that I was going to be a mother at all...not something I had in my plans. I did not write another page for the next 12 months.
Flash forward to today. My life is not any easier than it was one year ago. In fact, it's much much much harder. To say I am overwhelmed on the daily is the understatement of the year. But I desperately want to finish this book. I need to finish this book. This book has started to represent something so much more than just a box checking exercise. This book represents me proving to myself that I can still have big dreams and do big things and be a mom. Though 'having it all' is the biggest load of BS we women have ever been sold, I can still 'have some of it'. I think I can have most of 'it' all eventually, just not all at the same time, and not on the timeline I planned. But I am committing to myself (and to you!) that this will be finished this year. I've been writing in the middle of the night during bouts of crippling insomnia, which, given how little sleep I've had the last 5 months, is just a cruel act by the universe punishing for some unknown deed.
I've hired an illustrator. An illustrator who is going to bring so much joy and life and color and outright hilarity to my book. Because one of my biggest complaints about all the other books out there is that the ones that have the most in depth information tend to be really boring and dense and not much fun to read. And on the other end of the spectrum are how-to books that are colorful and bright and fun, but don't actually feel that practical. Can't we "have it all" in our beekeeping books?! Can't we laugh out loud but also walk away with a really solid education on how to be a good beekeeper? I think so.
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