“Time for our daily stretch.”
My favorite thing to do on Valentine’s Day? Hang out at New Seasons Grocery store. You will have seen previous posts from overhears there, but this one shows why I love hanging out there so much. The loudspeaker went on to invite all customers to put down their baskets and reach, reach, reach up over their head. “The store that cares for your health,” they say at the end and I believe it. There is a level of customer service that comes from a perspective of care rather than profit or sales. This is something that can’t be faked. It is sort of like Santa in A Miracle on 34th Street, when he sent customer to a competitors store for missing items. Ask about a product at New Seasons and they will offer you a taste or test. I never feel like this is only a ploy. When I walk away I am convinced they want me to get the best product I can. As an author I can understand this. With my new novel being released my entire marketing plan is based around finding the readers I think will really, truly enjoy it. This is not always as easy as it might seem. Readers are told by reviewers and authors and booksellers that every book is the best one. The good news is that I am sure all of these sources believe it; for the most part I don’t think they are trying to trick anyone. But, the fact is, not all readers will like every book. Some books aren’t written in the right style (just ask my husband about first person, present tense). Other books are about topics or in genres that simply aren’t interesting to the reader. So, how do I find the readers who really will like my book? I think it is all about authenticity. If I am honest about my reviews, good and bad, if I am really present in the Facebook and Twitter friends I feeds I follow, if I care about the topics in my book and allow others to see my concern, I think my readers will understand that what I write comes from my heart and hopefully is my own Valentine to them. Enjoy! UNTANGLING THE KNOT - now available: Kindle Format - Amazon Other formats (including Nook and Kobo)- Soulmatepublishing Also read, An Unlikely Valentine - A free short story based on Untangling the Knot, available Feb. 15th 2013 from FREE READS from the GENRE-ISTAS
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“It’s good karma.”
It was kind of the firefighters to stand in the rain with me while I waited for a public service person (aka police officer) to arrive and take care of the dog I had found wandering, lost, cold, and limping along a neighborhood road. Given the fact that the dog was also blind and had what was obviously a tumor on her stomach and hind leg, it was no wonder she looked worn out and sad. The firefighters hung out with me and my daughter for at least half an hour, until eventually the police officer came to claim the dog. After slowly walking her up and down the road and offering the dog reassurances for that time I found it difficult to see the police car door shut, with her confused once again inside. “It will be okay,”I told her, all the while knowing that, without a collar and looking so sick, chances were good they would not find an owner and she would be euthanized. In fact, as my daughter and I prepared to get in the car and leave, the officer asked if I would like to be notified before they euthanized. I shook my head hesitantly, sadly, guiltily. Of course it only took a moment for my daughter to ask what euthanize meant. Most Catholics do not believe that animals have souls. And so, they would not go to heaven. This is one doctrine, though, about which I am not sure. Of all God’s creatures animals seem the most holy to me sometimes. Certainly this dog did, as she limped along maintaining her dignity even as I think she sensed her own death. Perhaps she had faith, as I explained to my daughter, that she would soon be in a better place. I am not sure what that place looks like, either for myself or for that dog. It may be as W. Bruce Cameron fictionalizes in his book, A DOG’S PURPOSE, that she will come back again, to live another new life as a dog. Or perhaps, like the animals in C.S. Lewis’ NARNIA series, she will pass over to a better place. Wherever she lands I hope that her body was at least able to sense what her eyes could not see, that for even a brief time she was loved, by three firefighters, an eight year old, and me. |
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June 2020
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