Hello again.
It's been a little while.
And before I jump into everything that's happening behind the scenes at Rawberrybugs, I think I owe everyone a little bit of an apology—and an explanation—for disappearing for a while.
The past few weeks have been, well...
A little chaotic, to say the least.
We've had the flu make its way through our house—more than once, because apparently once wasn't enough.
There have been some pretty major changes happening within our walls.
And I've also had to do something that anyone who knows me knows I am absolutely terrible at doing...
Slow down.
Sometimes Life Changes the Plan
Recently, I received some not-so-great news about my spine, and I've had to start paying a little more attention to what my body has been trying to tell me.
Rest.
Slow down.
Let yourself heal.
Those are very simple words.
Actually doing them?
That's another story.
I'm very much a go-go-go kind of person. There is always another idea, another project, another room that needs something done, another story floating around in my head and approximately seventeen other things I suddenly decide should happen at the exact same time.
But sometimes life has a way of reminding you that you can't do everything at once.
So lately, I've been trying to listen.
Trying to heal.
Trying to adjust to some changes.
And trying to remind myself that slowing down doesn't necessarily mean standing still.
Because I definitely haven't been standing still.
I've Been Quiet...But I've Been Creating
While things may have looked a little quiet around Rawberrybugs, behind the scenes I've been working incredibly hard on something very special to me.
The Haven.
This story has taken me on quite the journey.
There have been long days.
Late nights.
Editing.
Re-editing.
Cutting.
Rewriting.
Second-guessing.
Changing things.
Changing them back.
And probably more conversations with fictional characters than I'd like to admit.
But slowly, page by page, The Haven has been coming to life.
And I'm getting incredibly excited—and maybe just a tiny bit nervous—to finally send it out into the world very soon.
The Haven is very different from Our Backyard.
But in another way, maybe it isn't so different after all.
Because underneath the characters, the stories and everything else, both come back to something I believe very strongly:
Everyone deserves somewhere they belong.
And that brings me to something else I've been working on.
Rawberrybugs Is Growing
When I first launched the Rawberrybugs website, Our Backyard was at the centre of everything.
It was the beginning.
The characters, Backyard Explorers, activities, printables, mysteries and everything we've created around that little world helped me begin building something I had been imagining for a very long time.
And I want to make something very clear:
None of that is going away.
Our Backyard will still have its home here.
Jet isn't flying anywhere.
Luna is still watching.
Wiggles will undoubtedly still have something to say.
And there are plenty more backyard adventures waiting to happen.
But Rawberrybugs was never meant to be about only one book.
And I think I'm finally ready to let the website become what it was always supposed to be.
Something Bigger Is Coming
Over the next little while, you're going to start noticing some big changes around here.
Rawberrybugs is growing from the home of Our Backyard into the home of my stories.
Stories for little readers.
Stories for curious kids.
Stories for teenagers.
Stories for adults.
Funny stories.
Messy stories.
Stories about families.
Stories about finding yourself.
Stories about starting over.
Stories that make you laugh.
And sometimes stories that might make you cry.
Because I've realized something about myself as a writer:
I don't belong on only one bookshelf.
And I don't want Rawberrybugs to either.
I want this little corner of the internet to become a place where you can wander in, look around and hopefully find a story that feels like it was waiting for you.
So...Where Have I Been?
I've been healing.
I've been adjusting.
I've been taking care of my family.
I've been navigating some changes I didn't necessarily expect.
I've been coughing, sneezing and wondering how one household can possibly catch the flu this many times.
I've been writing.
I've been editing.
I've been creating.
I've been bringing The Haven to life.
And somewhere in the middle of all of that...
I've been figuring out what Rawberrybugs is going to become next.
So I'm sorry I've been away.
But I'm back.
Maybe moving a little slower than before.
Maybe learning that I don't have to do everything in one day.
But definitely still dreaming just as big.
There is a lot coming.
A new book.
A new direction.
A changing website.
New stories.
New worlds.
And a whole lot more Rawberrybugs.
Thank you for sticking around while life got a little messy.
We're just getting started.
So, until next time…
Keep exploring.
R.A. Wallace