Catching Up with Victoria Kelly

A lot changes in two years. Two years ago, when MilspoFan was launched, my first novel, Mrs. Houdini, had just been published by Atria Books. My first poetry collection, When the Men Go Off to War, had just been published by the Naval Institute Press. I was a Navy wife married to a fighter pilot with a two-year-old and a one-year-old, and I thought my future would be just the way I planned it.

But things don't always happen like we plan. In those two years, my family and I moved to Washington, DC, and my husband and I separated after many years of marriage. I don't have the third child, or the perfect family, I had envisioned myself having by now. But I do have a lot of blessings. I have two beautiful daughters and a life that is stable, as we are permanently located in DC now. I live in an adorable little white house with a big yard for the kids. I am starting a new job as a Senior Writer for a PR firm. I had the opportunity to travel all over the country promoting my books these past few years. And I just finished my new novel, after many years of work, about a group of pilots during World War II.

It has been a challenging two years, but also one that has allowed me to be grateful for the wonderful things I have. Sometimes things don't always work out like we plan. But this doesn't always mean the new future that's ahead has to be bleak. I think, it can be wonderful.

Click to read Victoria's 2017 interview (MilspoFAN's first Artist Interview of all!), and to read her 2017 guest post.