“We sat in bed and laughed at your videos last night.”

Why does this not surprise me? I have been acclimating myself to the idea that this is my year of humility. Fitting, I think, since my book releases are making me a more public figure. My daughter likes to think I am famous… but aren’t we all within our own circles?

With publicity, though, comes attention. To be honest, I am not really big on attention. I like not having to wear make-up or worry about how I am being perceived. I am happy to have my characters take center stage. As a reader, though, I like to get to know the author of the books I enjoy. I always read the bio and sometimes even follow them on Twitter (btw – if you want to find me there, go to @dwilsted… or if you want to see one of my character’s tweets go to @jessatbettingj)

So, it may be that readers of BETTING JESSICA or UNTANGLING THE KNOT are also curious about me. Obviously my bio is published (link here). But now, with my goal of learning how to kick a field goal, my personal achievements
will be balanced by my personal failures…. And in a comic way.

By now you have probably seen my video blog about this journey. While I have jumped into this with both feet, part of me knew that the water was shallow enough I could wade out if I wanted. Not so anymore. I think I just threw myself into the deep end by inviting the help of a professional athletic trainer, Alex Molden. He has agreed to begin working with me to build the strength and mobility I will need to actually accomplish my goal (without hurting myself in the process).

There is nothing like including someone else in a project to ensure commitment. In this case I am fortunate to be working with one of the best. Perhaps Alex will also be able to help me understand how to handle public attention, since he himself has had lots of it over his lifetime (first playing football for the University of Oregon and then later in the NFL). He even has his own Wikipedia page. 

So, check in over at my Untangling the Knot Vlog page in a few weeks to catch my first training session with him… it may be that my humility will reach an all new high.

“I was feeling too much like a voyeur. They were on a first date.”

A kindred spirit had moved to sit near me and wanted to explain why she’d had to change seats. Of course she found a sympathetic ear in mine. Observation goes hand in hand with overhearing and together they can feel like
being pulled somewhere I don’t always want to go.

The best example I can use for non-observers out there is rubber-necking. We all know we should just drive by, that the reason the traffic is so bad is not from the accident itself but from all the people slowing down to look at it. And yet, there we are, cruising by with our neck craned.

Once I was on an airplane and my step-brother had a panic attack. Since he had never had one before we didn’t know what it was, so everyone was treating it as a possible heart problem. The passengers were asked to stay
seated and a call for a doctor was announced. Still, you would not believe how many people had to ‘go to the bathroom’ near us. All of them wanted to see what had caused the trouble.

Maybe it is the fight or flight instinct in us that makes us stick our nose into what we are not sure we even want to smell. It could be that instinct tells us to make sure there isn’t something dangerous happening.  

Or, perhaps we all just like a good story. The drama of an accident. The heartbreak of public tears. The thrill of a first date. Being a voyeur could be a sign it is time to create more stories in our own daily lives.

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Hey everyone.... did you check out my Free Story yet? I'd ove to know what you thought, so leave a comment here if you haven't already on the site:
http://www.freereadsfromthegenre-istas.blogspot.com/2012/11/deannewilstedfreereadcynthia1.html

And, if you haven't read it, go get it. It's a quick and funny read to lighten your holidays. Here's an excerpt:

.  .  .
“Oh my God! Nana, are you okay?” Cynthia realized she was the only one to have  noticed her grandmother fall in the
doorway.

“Get away, you’ll ruin it,” Nana shouted as  Cynthia leaned over to try to help her up. “I want the firemen to give me mouth  to mouth.”

Heat rose in Cynthia’s cheeks as she realized  Jack had heard Nana’s excuse. What must he think of her crazy family? The  glimmer in his eye gave away that it wasn’t what she’d expected. 

Go for it, he mouthed.
.  .  .

Read all of A FAMILY THANKSGIVING MENU at Free Reads from the Genre-istas