Pivotal Moments
I'm lucky that in my (almost) 42 years on this planet, I can look back and see pivotal moments that changed the direction and shape of my life. In fact, without even realizing it, I've often blogged about them.
There's the one when a sick day spent at my grandmother's house and a piece of "junk" mail led me to the medical field and working with kids. You can read about that one here.
Then there was the time I was getting allergy shots and my next door neighbor's step-mother said the words that gave me direction in my career. That story, in addition to directing my career, also gave me inspiration for the book of which I'm most proud, Live for This. That book even won an award this year. You can read that story here.
And how about that time that the use of a standard comma instead of the oxford comma led me to meet my husband? That's a funny one, although not really, because the PT/Speech therapy cap is STILL limited by that damn lack of comma. Want to here that story? Read about it here.
And so, on this 13th night of December, I just asked Alexa to play my favorite Christmas song. If you know me or follow me at all, you know it's Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses. Now you're going to shake your head and tell me you've never heard of it. But you have. Take a few blissful moments and rock out.
You've heard it, right? Now take a gander at the lyrics. I've always loved that song. So much that for years, I wanted to write a story based on the song. Then, one August, as I was writing the heaviest, and most important book (Live for This), I decided to put that aside and write a fun holiday novella based on my favorite Christmas song. That's how this came to be:
So, it's a stupid little novella. What does it have to do with the rest of this post? Well, it's another pivotal moment, and every time I hear the story it reminds me. I had a lot of fun writing this book, and as soon as I was done, even though I knew I had to finish Live for This first, I knew I was going to write a chick lit series based on this book. The rest, as they say, is history. Made for Me and New Attitude, the two follow up books (and I hope Queen of Hearts as well) have been my most successful books. They've hit bestseller lists and Made for Me was not only featured in Woman's World Magazine, but it also won Honorable Mention in the Reader's Favorite International Book Awards. This New Beginnings Series has changed the face of my writing career. It's made me a successful author.
I always knew going in that these books wouldn't be the "important" book of the time, but I've been contacted by more than one person who found comfort/laughter/inspiration in my words. These books, although light entertainment, have touched people. All because of a song.
So, before rushing off to my son's concert ("on with the boots, back out in the snow"), I'm going to listen to my favorite Christmas song one more time, and thank my lucky stars for all my pivotal moments.
There's the one when a sick day spent at my grandmother's house and a piece of "junk" mail led me to the medical field and working with kids. You can read about that one here.
Then there was the time I was getting allergy shots and my next door neighbor's step-mother said the words that gave me direction in my career. That story, in addition to directing my career, also gave me inspiration for the book of which I'm most proud, Live for This. That book even won an award this year. You can read that story here.
And how about that time that the use of a standard comma instead of the oxford comma led me to meet my husband? That's a funny one, although not really, because the PT/Speech therapy cap is STILL limited by that damn lack of comma. Want to here that story? Read about it here.
And so, on this 13th night of December, I just asked Alexa to play my favorite Christmas song. If you know me or follow me at all, you know it's Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses. Now you're going to shake your head and tell me you've never heard of it. But you have. Take a few blissful moments and rock out.
You've heard it, right? Now take a gander at the lyrics. I've always loved that song. So much that for years, I wanted to write a story based on the song. Then, one August, as I was writing the heaviest, and most important book (Live for This), I decided to put that aside and write a fun holiday novella based on my favorite Christmas song. That's how this came to be:
So, it's a stupid little novella. What does it have to do with the rest of this post? Well, it's another pivotal moment, and every time I hear the story it reminds me. I had a lot of fun writing this book, and as soon as I was done, even though I knew I had to finish Live for This first, I knew I was going to write a chick lit series based on this book. The rest, as they say, is history. Made for Me and New Attitude, the two follow up books (and I hope Queen of Hearts as well) have been my most successful books. They've hit bestseller lists and Made for Me was not only featured in Woman's World Magazine, but it also won Honorable Mention in the Reader's Favorite International Book Awards. This New Beginnings Series has changed the face of my writing career. It's made me a successful author.
I always knew going in that these books wouldn't be the "important" book of the time, but I've been contacted by more than one person who found comfort/laughter/inspiration in my words. These books, although light entertainment, have touched people. All because of a song.
So, before rushing off to my son's concert ("on with the boots, back out in the snow"), I'm going to listen to my favorite Christmas song one more time, and thank my lucky stars for all my pivotal moments.
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