“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark.” ~Michelangelo
Last week I got to proof the pages of my Rosey Corner novel, Small Town Girl, that will release this July. When a writer gets the pages to proof, the book is almost ready for the printer with the pages as they will look in the book. Here you can make minor changes and correct typos and other typesetting errors. It’s a writer’s last chance before the book is published to make it as right as she can. I never mind doing these edits. To me this is the easy part, the icing on the cake.
This time it was even better because when I started leafing through the pages to get to Chapter 1, I came across this page 4. And it hit me that this was a dream come true for me. When I first began trying to write for publication, I used to open up books of favorite authors and look at their “Books by” pages and dream of someday having a page like that. And now I do! This isn’t all the books I’ve published, but it shows the books that are in print or soon will be. The list isn’t as long as many authors might have in the front of their books, but it’s my list.
When I looked at it last week, I had the feeling that yes, I’ve been blessed with stories. Blessed to have those stories published. Blessed to have readers who want to read those stories. Blessed to have these books in print. That’s what a writer wants. His or her stories to be out there for readers. That’s easier now than when I began writing. Then most of us wouldn’t have ever imagined reading an entire book on an electronic device you can hold in your hand. A device that can store hundreds of books for you. We thought a book would always need paper and a printer and binder as well as a bookshelf. Now even after the paper copy is off that shelf, it’s easy to have the e-copy stay on the electronic bookshelf for readers. That’s been true of my Heart of Hollyhill books, but being an old fashioned reader, I’m thrilled to have my Hollyhill books back out in paper for readers too. You can have a chance to win one of those paper Scent of Lilacs books now by checking out Jocie’s interview on Margaret Daley’s blog. Jocie had fun answering her questions.
Don’t worry. I haven’t forgotten about the wonderful grandmother stories. In fact, many of the stories you’re shared fit right into this theme of setting a high mark for our dreams and goals. Your grandmothers could imagine you doing wonderful things. They dreamed big for you and encouraged you and were proud of your successes. Here’s a story from Connie L. about her grandmother encouraging her to use her talents for the Lord.
was that she was always singing. I can still hear her singing
‘Tell it to Jesus.’ Both my grandmother and my mother instilled a love of music in
me. Their desire was that I would serve God with music. I became a church
organist, and played at church for many years. Now I sing in the choir, and fill in
on the organ when needed. I will always be grateful to my grandmother for her
love of music.”
Thanks for reading and you still have plenty of time to enter my giveaway and share your grandmother stories. Deadline for entries is midnight EST April 1, 2013. I sent out copies of Scent of Lilacs to two of the winners in my blog giveaway, but one of the winners turned her prize back over for another winner. Pam, you’re it. I’ll get in touch.
