It has been many moons so to speak that I have been absent from posting. Several reasons for that, both personal and professional. But mostly professional. I made a decision in early 2019 to return to school. I have put it off for two decades! Yeppers 2019 was the year. I returned to graduate school at the University of Texas at Arlington to complete my Doctor of Nursing Practice degree.
It was after much soul searching. . . should I? Shouldn’t I? But I have never been a “shoulda, coulda, woulda” kind of person. Nope, just doesn’t fit the bill. I was terrified to return. I had not been on the student side of academia for twenty-eight years! Sure, I had students, but being the student is a whole different kind of stress level. Although I was fascinated by the material and catching up on real world nursing literature, I missed my writing and book signings. But I didn’t dare stray.
Book Signing at ARealBookStore May 2012
Sheer panic overtook me as I entered the first course. Numerous emails to the prof. A plethora of phone calls to IT. Fear that my computer internet speed was not going to be fast enough. The first couple of discussion posts were brutal. Numerous edits and re-submits. During the time I had written my own novels, I had a final editor. Now it was just me and grammarly.com That God for that program.
But I plugged along, even pulling out an “A” in the course. So what is the message? Patience, my friend, and fortitude. Be patient with me, I am now on the downward slope. Fortitude is the verb that i have chosen to live by. That, and the old adage that “slow and steady” wins the race.
And just to top it all off? COVID-19 struck! Now, that lovely phenomenon threatened to do us all in. However, I was determined to forge ahead. I thought of all the protagonists. Not only in my novels, but in history. I also turned to my faith. Nope. I would not give up.
Believe me, I cannot wait to get back to the world of historical make-believe! In the meantime, please enjoy the accomplishments of my fellow military writers. The Military Writer’s Society of America just announced their 2020 finalists. I wish them all well and will enjoy celebrating their achievements.
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there”
— Theodore Roosevelt
jeanettevaughan 
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