Introducing: Story in Progress
Exploring the ways women stay connected to themselves, their partners, and their passions in a world where we too often put ourselves last.
I’ve always loved stories. I love hearing how other people got from there to here. It’s always fascinating to me how many versions of ourselves we can cram into one lifetime.
Throughout my teens and twenties, I’d wander around Borders Bookstore (RIP), and the world was suddenly full of possibilities. Behind every book cover was a door to a different world—or a new and improved version of myself. Imagining that I could create one of these magic portals—it felt like a calling.
So in 2010, at 26, I left Florida and moved to San Francisco to get my MFA in Creative Writing. I quit my full-time job, left behind my friends and family, and sold everything I owned. But something in me understood I had to go on my own hero's journey before I could write stories worth telling.
Then life happened. I built a career as a copywriter, got married, had a baby girl, and put my dream of writing books on the shelf for later. And then, four years later, I found out I was pregnant with identical twin boys.
For a while, consumed with the never-ending monotony of momming three young kids during the pandemic, my writing dreams felt like relics of a former life. Until one day, deep in the trenches of diaper duty, I had a moment of clarity—I knew that, eventually, I’d look back and laugh at this. That thought sent me running to my computer, where I wrote the first scene in what would become my debut novel, Annie in Retrospect.
After years of feeling like I had nothing to say, a story poured out of me. A welcome rainstorm after a very long drought.
Now, as I prepare to launch my book into the world, I find myself reflecting on how easy it is to lose touch with the things that make us feel most alive. How often we let our creative sparks dim in the chaos of daily life. And how vital it is to reclaim those parts of ourselves.
This space was created to explore that with you.
This newsletter is for anyone who’s ever lost themselves in the demands of life and is trying to find their way back. For the dreamers who got too busy, the creatives who stopped creating, the women who feel like they’ve spent years fulfilling roles and expectations only to realize they’re not sure where they fit in anymore.
It’s about rediscovering our voices, reconnecting with what lights us up, and challenging the narratives we’ve been carrying around about who we should be.
Through personal essays, reflections on creativity, and honest conversations about writing, momming, and midlife reinvention, I want to build a space where we can be real with ourselves—and each other.
I’ll be publishing new posts bi-weekly, along with updates about my upcoming novel, and behind-the-scenes reflections on my adventures as a debut novelist.
If any of this resonates, I’d love for you to join me. Let’s find our way back to ourselves—one story at a time.
Love always,
Kristina
P.S. Speaking of publishing updates, I have an official book cover! Isn’t she pretty? Shoutout to Julie Metz and the design team at SparkPress for their amazing work! Annie in Retrospect will be online and in stores on 10/07/2025. You can read more about it (and download a preview of the first chapter for free) at www.kristinavoegele.com.
