2004: some years are better than others

Publishing is a bumpy business. I suppose some authors have careers where they somehow avoid rejection or cruel reviews or canceled contracts or an absence of publisher support or poor marketing. If so, I haven’t talked to them.

I’ve certainly experienced some moments in the “publishing pits.” But overall, 2004 was a pretty good year for me. I finished four books (The Victory Club, Another Chance to Love You, Veterans Way, and Loving Libby) and saw the release of three (Catching Katie, Legacy Lane, and Beyond the Shadows). I also began receiving more invitations to lead women’s retreats, something God had told me, a few years earlier, would happen.

But the two best experiences of the year happened to me in the late fall. First, the publisher of Beyond the Shadows sent me on a couple of trips for interviews on four different Christian cable TV programs to talk about my experiences of living with a loved one who’s an alcoholic and what the Lord taught me in the process. I was blessed in numerous ways during those trips. And second, while in a hotel room on the second of those trips, I got the idea for a new story that left me so excited and eager to write it. One of those wonderful Ah-Ha moments when a writer knows she’s stumbled on something almost perfect.

Sweet!