Deb Dana Graduates

As I have said on more than one occasion, I do not like endings or goodbyes or anything that involves a particular experience coming to a close.

And yet.

There are certain events that naturally run their course, so that when the ending comes, it doesn’t really feel like an ending. It feels like a beginning, like the start of something new. I remember feeling that way as I approached college graduation. A lot of people would say things to me like, “Don’t you wish you could stay in college forever?” And I remember thinking, “No, not really. It’s time for me to be an adult in the real world now. I’m ready.”

Me? Ready for an ending? But I was ready. I had spent so many years learning, and I was ready to do. I saw graduation not as the end of college but the beginning of my adult life, full of possibilities and opportunities and, yes, responsibilities and potential pitfalls. The future held so much promise, and I couldn’t wait to make it mine.

That’s a little how I feel about being a Deb. I’ve had a year to celebrate being a debut author with these four amazing women, and sharing this journey with them has been the experience of a lifetime. Being a part of the Deb Sisterhood, we supported each other through a slew of ups and downs, many of which had nothing to do with writing at all. I know we’ll always have a kinship, a special bond that will always tie us together.

But it’s time for me to take off the tiara and pearls. I’m ready to be not a “debut author” but rather…an author, plain and simple. I will miss the novelty of publishing a book for the first time, and I will certainly miss emailing with my Deb sisters on a regular basis. But I’m actually looking forward to joining the ranks of the published authors out there — the Vets rather than the Debs. It’s been a wonderful year, but the time has come for me to graduate. I’m ready.