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Muffins and Mayhem, Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life
AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win: Goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader
Dear Reader,
What a party! On January 10th at the Brookline Booksmith bookstore in Brookline, Massachusetts, author Jessica Keener launched her new book NIGHT SWIM. If you missed her debut party you can start reading her book right now. I highly recommend it, I loved it.
To Sample NIGHT SWIM, go to: http://www.supportlibrary.com/bc/v.cfm?L=%%list.name%%qqxqQ1F93455124F&c=SUZ
Jessica is giving away copies of her new book so be sure to drop her a note and enter her drawing--details are in her column. Take it away, Jessica...
Thank you, Suzanne, for creating this welcoming community of readers and for inviting me, once again, to share my thoughts here.
Today, I'd like to talk about...waiting.
For more than 20 years I waited to publish a novel, and now that my wait is finally over, I've been asking myself: what did I learn from this long vigil? And was it worth the wait?
The short answer is yes, but frequently I doubted and wondered if it was. At times, I imagined myself completely alone in my vigil, feeling sorry for myself. Why couldn't I reach this goal I set out for myself? What was wrong with me? Surely, I was the only one who had suffered and waited for so long. In the darkness of waiting, I judged myself too harshly, and judged others when I failed to succeed, as if other people were responsible for my dream. I let this waiting cast a shadow over other important things in my life: family, simple, daily pleasures; as if my whole life depended on this one, future goal to validate who I was. I think that was a mistake.
A quick scan of history and current events and it's easy to see that I was a drop in the ocean of waiting--hundreds and thousands of people over time have waited for their loved ones to return from war; for slavery to be abolished; for innocents locked away in jail to be released; for women to win the right to vote. My modest goal of publishing a novel pales in comparison to these larger, societal concerns; yet, I charged it with the weight of my entire life.
So, while I'm glad I pursued my dream with vigor, I think I could have honored the process better, the day-to-day struggles and failures. With my eyes overly focused on a single goal in the future, I sometimes undervalued the vitality of life happening right in front of me, in my lap--a good meal with friends, for example, or the color of the sky out my kitchen window--because that's where the heart of living takes place.
To celebrate my novel debut, I'm giving away two free copies of NIGHT SWIM. Email me at: [email protected] to enter, and while you're at it, tell me your story about waiting. Was it worth it?
Jessica Keener
www.jessicakeener.com
* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE MARTYRED by Richard E. Kim. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/January12Classics
AUTHORBUZZ: (Mystery) LUCKY IN LOVE by Deborah Coonts
Is it really possible to be Lucky In Love? Lucky O'Toole, Head of Customer Relations for the Las Vegas Babylon Casino Hotel, finds herself seeking the answer when her hotel hosts a reality television show called the Forever Game. Lucky discovers that the rocky road to love often takes unexpected turns. And that's not always a bad thing.
Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader Click on LUCKY IN LOVE to read more. Author Deborah Coonts would love to hear from you.
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