If you follow this blog regularly, you may have noticed the past couple of Wednesdays have been quiet.

That pause was intentional.

Over the past several months I’ve been writing about ideas that sit behind my novel The Preacher’s Son—belonging, faith, identity, silence, and the quiet struggles people carry but rarely talk about.

Recently I stepped away from those themes briefly to write a short four-part series about artificial intelligence and writing. AI has quickly become one of the most debated topics in creative fields, especially for authors, and it felt important to address the conversation directly. That series was a bit of a detour from the themes of the novel, but it was one I felt was worth taking given how rapidly the conversation around AI is evolving.

Now it’s time to return to the ideas that shaped The Preacher’s Son.

Over the next few months I’ll be exploring one of the central tensions that runs quietly through the story—the expectations placed on us by the families, communities, and traditions we grow up around.

Some expectations are spoken.

Many are not.

Sometimes they encourage us to grow into something meaningful. Other times they quietly shape who we believe we’re allowed to become.

Beginning next Wednesday I’ll be starting a new twelve-week series here on the blog titled “The Weight of Expectations.”

Throughout the series we’ll explore questions many people wrestle with at some point in their lives:

What happens when our identity is shaped by expectations we didn’t choose?

How do communities influence who we believe we’re supposed to be?

And what happens when the role we’ve been given no longer feels like it fits?

These aren’t just questions found in fiction. They’re questions many of us encounter in our own lives as well.

If you read along each week, I hope the series will spark reflection, conversation, and maybe even a few moments of recognition.

And if something in these essays resonates with you—or if you see things differently—I encourage you to join the conversation in the comments. Honest thoughts and respectful disagreement are always welcome here. You don’t have to worry about hurting my feelings or anyone else’s by sharing your perspective.

Writing may start as a solitary act, but the ideas behind it grow stronger when readers engage with them.

If you’d like to follow along as the series unfolds, consider subscribing to the blog so you’ll receive a notification each week when the next post is published.

The first essay in the series will appear next Wednesday.

Until then, thank you for reading.