It’s my birthday in two
days. Last year I celebrated my special day at a decadent resort in the
Caribbean, a once-in-a-lifetime splurge.
Had I put the trip off for a year to save more toward it I would have
been majorly disappointed, given what’s happened with travel this year. Note to
self: Don’t put things off if they are
important to you.
This year’s celebration
will be much closer to home with a weekend at one of my favorite spas, and I’m
hoping Friday the 13th will prove to be lucky. I don’t know about you, but I always feel a
bit of a slump the month before my birthday.
I am definitely more introspective, looking back on the past year as
well as forward. I chalk it up to a kind
of death-rebirth phase. Shedding what
didn’t work, planning to change things where I can. It’s my mental inventory time.
Checking in: Over the
last year I didn’t lose any weight. On
the plus side I didn’t gain any weight, so I’ll call that a win.
Note to self: I am not here to pay bills and lose
weight. I am here to be the best person
I possibly can. Best mother, wife,
daughter, sister and friend. I feel my track record is pretty good, not
perfect, but what is?
In an effort to ramp up
my fitness, I started meeting a friend once a week to trek up a mountain and
see the view from the top. It’s not
easy, but it’s getting easier and we’re getting faster. Win: I don’t huff and puff as much as I did at
the beginning.
Professionally this
year, I published 9 books and 2 novellas. Some are selling well. Others are struggling to find their
readership—or have the readers find them.
I expect that to be ongoing. I’ve
heard that 90% of book sales are earned by 10% of the authors, which tends to
be a trueism for sales generally. Those
top 10% don’t have to do much except show up with a new release. Readers know them. Readers continue to buy them because they
deliver—meaning they meet or surpass reader expectation. Even if they occasionally fall short, their
fans forgive them and line up for the next release.
As long as I continue
to deliver a satisfying story with a happy ending, my fans will find me. That’s the thing that keeps us seasoned
writers going. Plus the fact that we
don’t recognize a life where we’re not writing.
I have no projections
as to what the next year might bring because sitting on a white sand beach this
time last year, watching the sun go down and listening to the waves lap against
the shore, who could have guessed everyone’s world would be turned upside down. I’ll just keep writing, and if I never go
back there in person I’ll always have my memories. And possibly a setting for a new book. Because right now, readers need an escape and
happy ending more than ever before.
Speaking of Happy Endings, have you snagged your copy of the feel good holiday anthology, Christmas Comes to Dickens? It's still only 99 cents and the accompanying Cookie Recipe Book is a bargain at Free.
https://books2read.com/dickens-cookie
Since today is
Remembrance Day, Veterans’ Day, Armistice, or whatever it’s called in your part
of the world, take a minute to honor the world’s true heroes, past and
present. Like a happy ending, we also need
our heroes more than ever before.
Sign up for Kathleen’s VIP Reader Group to receive a
free book, updates, special giveaways and fan-priced offers. http://eepurl.com/bV0sb1
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