New Beginnings

Dear Readers,

Holy smokes, this is starting off like a letter! How formal! How scandalous! Who's dead? What's happening? What's going on?

I have typed, deleted, typed, deleted, typed, and deleted again. So here it goes. Everything is fine. In fact, it's way better than fine. I have some very good news to share with all of you - and a little bittersweet news, too. Let's start with the good, shall we?

I am very excited to share with you all that a short story I wrote earlier this year - entitled "Slosh" - has been selected for publication in an anthology, and will be published Fall 2017/Winter 2018. This is the first time I've ever submitted fiction for consideration to any publisher, and I am LOSING MY MIND from excitement that they want to take a chance on my work. The story is dark. It's tragic. I'm not sure it's any good - you'd have to confer with my first readers on that.

Speaking of my early readers, I'd be remiss not to thank them each individually. I could not have completed the manuscript edits or gained the confidence to seek out publication if not for:

• Jenna Allen
• Kristin Smith
• Courtney Wick
• Kathy Tosh
• Hope Linker

And, of course, my husband Craig, who I'm sure never saw a story like "Slosh" coming out of my brain. Thank you for your continued kindness, patience, love, and inspiration. You're my hero. And I am so glad to be sharing this adventure with you. 

Now, with this good news comes a little bit of the bittersweet news. Deep breaths, everyone, deep breaths...

I am saying goodbye to (ryan)vention. This probably comes as no shock to most of you, given that this blog has sat dormant for several months with minimal updates. I started this blog to find my creative voice again and to figure out what my "next thing" - my next macguffin - would be. Over the last two years, I've become even more obsessed with Yankee Candle, I've had a Pad Thai meltdown, I've continuously failed at weight loss (though I am down 30 pounds for 2017, so I consider that a win), I've made fun of my family members, and mused on dozens of other topics. But most importantly, I found my creative voice again. I found my way back to writing.

And I couldn't have done any of this without all of you. Some of you I know (hi, Mom) and some of you live thousands of miles away and we'll likely never meet. But each of you helped me to find my voice. You helped me to be confident. We've laughed together. We've cried together (just me? Thanks for nothing, Pad Thai). We've shopped for candles together. I adore you all. And I hope you've cherished this time as much as I have.

Now, silver lining: I'm not leaving the blogosphere - I'm just moving shop. As of today, www.jryanblesse.com is live and ready for visitors. The blog portion of the website will go live tomorrow morning at 6am, which will introduce my readers to what they should expect moving forward. TL;DR, the new website is focused on my journey as a writer and attempting to connect with other writers and readers. Now, that doesn't mean we won't have fun - I do plan to incorporate travel and lifestyle topics like what you've become accustomed to here (be on the look out for my first unboxing video coming next week). But I think it's important for me to learn more about being a storyteller and to share what those lessons with others as I go. I'll also be providing updates on any new published works.

(ryan)vention is very special to me, and it's harder to write this than I thought it would be. This new adventure is REALLY scary. This must be how Oprah felt making her own cable network...

Anyway, I hope you'll read "Slosh" when it hits the presses (I'll let you know about that over at www.jryanblesse.com when I know), and that you'll join me in my new adventures. You can find me at the following places:

Website: www.jryanblesse.com
New blog (please subscribe!): www.jryanblesse.com/blog
Facebook: www.facebook.com/jryanblesse
Twitter and Instagram: @jryanblesse

As for (ryan)vention, it will stay right here where it's always been. 

Thank you for helping me find my macguffin and for being my first readers. I love you all. 

To new beginnings (and to finding your macguffin).

- J. Ryan Blesse