Gratitude

The last month has been a tough one for me. I’m sad. I’m frightened. I’m disillusioned. It’s easy to want to just say “screw it.” Yet I know in my heart that’s not the way to handle anything. I’ve tried quitting and it felt good for about two minutes. After that, well I just felt like a quitter! So I don’t plan on quitting now. If I don’t like the way things are going I have two choices: quit or work to change it myself. I’m choosing the latter.

In the spirit of change, I decided that I need to embrace gratitude. Each month I need to publicly speak to at least one thing I’m grateful for. Today I want to talk about the unexpected blessings I’m grateful for. In July I won a Golden Crown Literary Award in the paranormal/horror category for my novel, Twisted Whispers. Yes, it was nominated and yes, it made it as a finalist. I was thrilled at that point because you see, I’m not the award-winning kind of person and thus I was thanking my lucky stars that my book made it as a finalist. It was a great moment for me. As I was heading to Canada, I was unable to attend the conference this year and be part of the awards ceremony. No big deal, I thought, because I won’t win. Imagine my shock when I got a text from my friend (and my editor’s wife) that Twisted Whispers had won! It was a moment I will always remember.

Today, I am grateful for wonderful surprises that give validation to a lifetime of writing and trying to improve my craft. I am grateful for the wonderful people who are by my side in that journey: my family, my editor, my friends. I am grateful for the readers who share my world and the stories I find myself compelled to write. I am grateful for all the people who make this journey rich and fulfilling.