Category: Gratitude Blog

I forgot to post a Gratitude yesterday. I was very busy all day and then spent the evening relaxing with new friends. In the past, I would feel guilty about having not posted. I’d chastise myself for failing to perform on a promise, even if it was one I’d made only to myself. But that would defeat the purpose of this blog – to focus on the positive aspects of life, whether big or small.

And so, it’s okay that I didn’t post. I was grateful for lots yesterday, and the fact that I didn’t write about any of it doesn’t change that fact. And it’s okay to blow it sometimes. Maybe I’ll post twice today, or maybe I won’t. We’ll just have to wait and see what life brings to me today!

“People will come, Ray. They’ll come to Iowa for reasons they can’t even fathom. They’ll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they’re doing it. They’ll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. ‘Of course, we won’t mind if you look around,’ you’ll say… They’ll pass over the money without even thinking about it: for it is money they have and peace they lack.” ~Field of Dreams

It’s been a heady few days: over twenty-thousand copies of Foreseen given away, followed by escalating sales for both Foreseen and Choices. It is hard not to get wrapped up in it and check each hour to see how many more have been purchased. But the words from Field of Dreams, spoken by the indomitable James Earl Jones, keep coming back to me.

The lines are spoken as Ray Kinsella faces financial ruin for having pursued his calling – building a baseball field where his crops should be growing.  You could say this is a promise of riches for listening to the mysterious voice, but for me, it is a reminder to stick with my faith and passion, regardless of money.

I could write quick and easy novels with the aim of making fast money, but it would leave me in one of the cars lining up for the mere chance to see Ray Kinsella’s ball field. I would have money and lack peace.

So I will stop obsessing over sales now, and get back to writing the type of quality novels I’m drawn to. I can’t imagine I will never be wealthy, but I will get by. And I will have a peace that money can’t buy. And for that, I am grateful.

I entered into this past week’s promotion of Foreseen with trepidation and tempered expectations. I hoped a thousand or two potential readers would grab a copy to take a look at. I’d heard stories of 8000 downloads during such promotions, but discounted them as the blogosphere’s equivalent of big fish boasts. “Distribute a couple thousand copies,” I thought to myself. “That would be a success. Maybe three thousand if it reaches the right group of readers.”

Over 20,000 copies of Foreseen were downloaded last week. One new review has already been posted on Amazon from one of those readers and several others have contacted me directly to let me know they’re enjoying it.

I wish I could let each person who downloaded Foreseen and every person who spread the word about it how  grateful I am and how much their kindness and support means to me.  But there isn’t a way to do it, so I will remain pleasantly overwhelmed with gratitude.

It was a wonderful weekend. It was nice to get together with my dad. Mark and I cleaned up the yard which was a great sense of accomplishment. I loved having Andrew home for Easter and we had a great time baking various things, eating too much, playing video games, and cheering on the rising stats on the book download promotion.

Tomorrow I need to get back to work – I’ve got busy a week coming up with both my writing and my volunteer duties.  So I am grateful for the peace and quiet of a Sunday evening. I’m recharging to be ready for the new week.

I relaxed a bit today and finished reading a book. It was a good break but, when the last digital page was turned, I began making a mental list of all the tasks I needed to accomplish. I have a novel to edit. In the series I’m writing, I need to come up with a public setting in Boston and a plausible reason for the characters to be there. I need to work on the frame I’ve written for the other novel I’m working on. I need to find whatever seems to have died in my basement and is leaving a smell. I need to dust everything in the house. I need to clean the bathrooms. I need to move the patio furniture out from the basement. I need to prepare for a board meeting coming up this week, and read the materials for the volunteer meeting for another organization. I have boxes that need to be mailed and checks that need to be written… the list goes on and on.

It’s a bit hectic but that’s a good thing. I perform faster and better under pressure. Without it, I accomplish nothing.  So, I am thankful for the pressure of having too much to do – it’s the only way I’ll get anything done right!

One day into the promotional giveaway of the digital version of Foreseen, it’s ranked #2 in the New Adult/College category and #3 in Science Fiction on Amazon. You don’t hear a lot of celebrating over coming in second or third, but in this case, it isn’t a competition. Rather, the goal is to get Foreseen into the hands of readers who will enjoy it and raise its profile in the process. # 2 and #3 in two prominent categories: I’d say and that goal is being reached.

My fingers are crossed that the readers find it appealing and continue to download it over the next few days. I’d love to see it get into the top 100 free books on Amazon – a category that Amazon pushes so that it will reach another audience of potential readers to download it free. But in the meantime, I’m very thankful for the success so far.

I’m doing a spring cleaning of the basement and it’s LONG overdue. I’ve managed to accumulate stuff to fill every nook and cranny including those nooks and those crannies that were formed by filling the original ones. So a few days ago, I started sorting through it all, separating out what can be garage saled, what needs to be shredded, and what needs to be pitched. This morning, I delivered several boxes of old files to a client.

It’s quite a workout and, at this point, the basement is in a state of complete chaos, but I can already see that there’s more room and less stuff. And that makes me feel very good!

It snowed overnight and Facebook is filled with complaints about the weather. It’s been an unusually long, cold and snowy winter so I understand, but I rather like the snow this morning. On the heels of a warm spring weekend, its a reminder of what we’ve left behind. Plus the stark white snow is a beautiful contrast to the lush green grass, pastels of spring flowers, and budding leaves on the trees.

So thank you snow. You remind me to enjoy Spring that much more.

It rained today. I know rain is good and necessary, but I was getting used to walking outside and I couldn’t. Instead, my husband and I went dodge-malling. That’s what he calls going for a vigorous walk at the mall, weaving in and out of the much slower shoppers. It wasn’t what I wanted to do, but I can’t have everything I want, so I went.

I feel a whole lot better now. It was nice to get out. It was nice to be in a bright, cheerful atmosphere. It was nice just to get my body moving. Dodge-malling. Sometimes its a good thing.

Four years ago, we got a puppy. We’d been without a dog for a year and a half for the first time in our marriage and it was no secret that I didn’t want a new one. But my husband prevailed and we got what from all indications would be a 25 pound, calm edition to our family. But Morgan surprised us by becoming a spaz at twice that size. And she’s stupid. I mean, do you know any dogs who forget to EAT?

But in the evening, when I’m done working and sit down on the couch, she snuggles up beside me, rests her head on my leg and is completely content with life. She’s so loving, it’s hard not to respond in kind, and why would I try?