It's 2:15 in the afternoon and my deadline is quickly approaching. I am just coming into the house after a morning of school supply and grocery shopping with my husband and four children. There is a list of things I still need to do, but I have to wait on that. At this moment, I have to write. Having four children between the ages of five months and 10 years old, one of which has special needs, means life is anything but calm. Sometimes I barely have time to sit down, let alone think about writing. This is why I am excited and nervous to start this journey of writing for "Odyssey Online."

I have been writing since I was in grade school. I started in about third grade, roughly 19 years ago. So naturally, I was incredibly excited about this opportunity to be involved in something bigger than my notebooks. Then the email came. After I celebrated with some shrieking and telling my writer family in a Facebook group, the panic set in. The self-doubt and "what-ifs" came on in a wave washing over me, bringing me to tears. Isn't it how that usually works, though? As a writer you get so excited for a new opportunity to share your story, to let your voice be heard, when all of a sudden that gnawing negativity sneaks into the back of your mind making you turn into a pile of jelly on the floor. Every writer goes through it, and if someone says they haven't, they're lying to you.

Except for when my children were born, I've never been so excited and so scared of something. This new journey is going to be crazy, hectic, and amazing. So to start off, as a writer, and mother, my goal is to find time for me. Find time to write. Kick that self-doubt in the teeth and march on. Finally I am standing up and doing what I have always wanted to do, instead of hiding in my notebooks and blog posts that I never share. From here on out, my voice will be heard. My story will be out there for the world to see.