Jay Olsen-Thrift

The past seven days have been a strange time of growth, realization, and daily writing goals.

I officially graduated on May 7 with my master’s in business administration. As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I’ve had a complicated relationship with graduation ceremonies. The last time I donned the cap and gown was in 2014 for my high school graduation, in the same black and gold colors, on the same Campus Green. Walking across the Kennesaw State campus was surreal. I was looking at all of the memories I had made on campus from 2014-2019, memories that had no sense of closure because I did not “end” that chapter of my life in any meaningful way. Undergrad came and went without much, if any fanfare. So when I stepped foot on campus last week, it was not just an ending to my MBA – it was an ending to my bachelor’s degree, and the past 10 years. I was giving myself a solid, complete ending. And I looked damn good doing it.

In other news, I am making steady progress with both preparing “The Whispering Pass” to publish, and writing the second book in the trilogy, “The Frozen Steppe”. I’ve reached out to a couple of people about copyediting. I’m putting my budget together for remaining expenses (cover art, ISBNs, copyright, etc.). Hoping to get book one available for purchase by the end of the year. Make sure to check here for pre-order information.

The second book is coming along nicely. I started officially tracking my progress on April 30, and so far, there have only been two days where I did not write or meet my goal. I tend to write at night, which is not the best thing for my sleep schedule, but that’s when my inspiration and motivation are at their highest. Perhaps I can bribe myself to start earlier, so I can go to sleep sooner…

As for the future of this site, I am going to start posting “encyclopedia” articles about the world of Daaria at least twice per month. Hopefully more often than that. Over the past 15 years, I have done a ton of worldbuilding and I want to share the world with you! If there’s anything in particular you want to know about the world of Daaria, let me know.