The past few weeks have passed in a flurry. Last week, in particular, was a real gem.
Now let me say up front that we all have up and down times, and it’s my personal belief that when we are being smacked down often it is then that something really good happens so that we stay balanced. Sometimes you really have to look for that good, and sometimes you really wish you had time to enjoy it.
Let me set the stage a little here. On the book front, Not This Time was just published. That’s the 3rd and final book in the Crossroads Crisis Center series (for now). I’m running a contest for a diamond necklace and a copy of the book on it that ends 3/31. I should be letting everyone know that they can enter it HERE, but I’ve been sidetracked and waylaid instead. There’s also a contest going on on Goodreads. Again, waylaid and sidetracked.
Then Girl Talk: Letters Between Friends, the first of my Sunday book releases, was published. You can read about that here. I should be letting others know about it, but…
Then there was a special promotion on Mind Reader, the reissue of the very first book I had published. It’s reduced to 99 cents at Amazon Kindle. I’ve been looking forward to this for months, but couldn’t pause to enjoy it because…
A) We, meaning my devoted agent, Chip MacGregor, and I have been in negotiations on my next project for weeks and…
B) I got in gallies for review on Lost, Inc. Book 1, Survive the Night, which comes out in October 2012, revisions on Book 2, Christmas Countdown, a December 2012 release, and the deadline is fast, fast approaching (two weeks) on the proposal for Book 3, Torn Loyaltiies. All at once, and all with short suspenses, and…
C) I have to change operating systems on my computer because if I don’t get it done, then I lose email and websites and other little goodies in short order. On receiving the third notice to move to the cloud, I figured there wasn’t going to be a good time—there’s always—tons of stuff going on, so I stopped to handle this.
And that’s when mayhem ensued.
You can’t make the move to the cloud without updating the operating software to the latest version, which translates to ditching Snow Leopard for Lion. I could have done it earlier, but didn’t want to stop progress on projects. (I also have two other projects waiting for final formatting and review before publication. Like I said, there’s never a good time.)
So, okay, I bite the bullet. Backup my hard drive to my external hard drive (oh, don’t skip this step EVER [and a very special thank you to my dear friend, Kathy Carmichael, for reminding me to do this even though I back up daily]) and then download Lion.
It takes hours but downloads. But it won’t install. My hard drive is damaged, it says, and can’t be repaired. (Picture my heart beating erratically, and my stomach dropping and sticking to my kneecaps and you’ll have a good picture of my response.) I hit my knees. Tech savvy, I am not.
That nixed progress in a huge way—and at one o’clock the next morning, progress remained nixed. I’d done all the recommended troubleshooting and tried all I could try. Nada luck on anything. My local computer guru closed shop. What to do, what to do? I started searching for another and found one not too far away but they weren’t, of course, open yet.
Along about 9 AM, Hubby reminded me that the computer was probably still under warranty. I didn’t think so but checked anyway. It was—I had gotten the Apple Care on it, it was still in effect. Oh, yay! Help! And I could call them right then. So I did.
A patient soul named Mike spent the next few hours walking me through reformatting my hard drive—(picture gooseflesh and cold sweats here, because even though I’d backed up, I’ve done that before only to discover the backup had been corrupted and I lost everything!)—so we get that done, reload the old operating system, restore via Time Machine and I’ve got my old system back. The last twenty-four hours of downloading the new system and trying to install and repair were erased! That’s a win. A big one. I lost NOTHING. (Picture a major celebration here, because I was all but doing the Snoopy dance, and that’s the truth. Hit my knees again in gratitude. A note: I have over 2,000,000 items on this puppy. That’s a lot to risk on losing.)
Then Mike gave me explicit instructions on what to do next. Three steps. It took until 11 that night, but I got them done. Lion was downloaded, installed, and running. I wanted to backup at that point, but didn’t dare. There were still a few glitches to be addressed and the move to the Cloud. (picture nerves again, because this was all uncharted waters for me). Apple called back to see how I was doing. I took comfort in their reassurance. I was on target for success. The only thing that stood between me and it was time—and those three Lost Inc. books (edits, revisions and writing) stood between us.
It took the day, but I got moved to the cloud. Got mail set up, got reconfigures done on some programs and updates done and I stopped late that night feeling victorious. Then I looked at Quicken, which did not work with Lion. (Have I mentioned that all my tax stuff and such is in-progress and there? No? Well, it is.)
Kathy looked on her computer for a fix. And there is one, but we failed to find where you actually get the download for it. (Picture significant panic but being tempered with hitting my knees, which are just a little bruised by this time because I’ve been on them so much.)
She’s also giving me good news on Mind Reader’s special promotion. It’s on the Movers and Shakers list, the Romantic suspense list, the Kindle romantic suspense list, the contemporary fiction and genre fiction and fiction lists in the US, three lists in the UK and two in Germany. (picture, me wishing I had the time to celebrate with more than a shouted Yay! Thank you! Thank you!) This is a huge win and I am going to celebrate it. So I drop the price of the book from $2.99 to $.99 to celebrate with those who make it happen, my readers. (Thanks, readers. You can see I really needed this one!)
It’s the wee hours again. I’ve slept four hours in two days. I’m tired. Really low on steam, but the thought occurs to me that I’ve been a Quicken customer for many years. Surely they wouldn’t not let me know that the program won’t run Lion. Surely not. I check email—nearly 4000 messages waiting because of being out of town a few days—and sure enough, there is an email from Quicken—actually, two of them! Hopeful, I read. One is from the new guy saying they’re going to do better. (I love anyone who admits they’ve not done well and they’re determined to fix it. So I shoot him a warm fuzzy and kudos for that and ask he be blessed, and move on to the second one. And there it is. A link to the download for the fix to run Lion. Yay! (Picture me viserally doing cartwheels in my office, celebrating.)
I click, download and hold my breath. Then I check the program—and there it is. And my data is all in place and my tax notes are on the desktop and it works! Yay! Not sure if the Quicken man feels blessed, but boy, I sure did. Another win—a huge, huge win—and I hit my bruised knees because I’m sure as certain for everything to go this well, divine intervention has to be front and center.
So all is restored, moved, up and running. I reconfigured some programs and after three days, return to my work: the galleys. I need to copy all the changes made. Problem. The printer doesn’t talk to Lion, the cartridge is low—and a certain someone “borrowed” the last new one without noting it and so, I’m out of ink. No problem, I’ll scan the manuscript. I load it into the scanner and . . . problem. Lion doesn’t talk to the scanner, either.
Okay, I update again and pause to backup the whole schmear. Then go into system preferences and hit print and scan and find instructions on getting these two to talk. It doesn’t work. But my printer has a backup system and I can hot wire it. I do that—these puppies really do need to be in the mail first thing tomorrow.
It’s cumbersome, it’s slow, but the angels that watch over writers took pity on me and, though it took all day, it got done. I saved as it went, and when it was done, I was elated.
Then I discovered from page 181 to the end was blank. It ate the content. I did have backups of the segments, so I put them all in a file and called it done. The win: the hard copy is ready to go!
Now I’ve got to address this printer and scanner issue. There is a fix. I’ll get there. In the meantime, the clock’s ticking on getting the time-sensitive revisions done and that third proposal written, the tax junk to the accountant and the other three pages of to-dos on my list.
Kathy’s kept tabs on the books for me and just before I dragged myself to bed—I can’t think anymore—she shares that Mind Reader is #7 on the Kindle popularity list. That made me smile. I’d jump for joy, but I’m too tired. It’s the night of day three on four hours sleep.
The next time someone says, “Oh, you’re a writer. You work at home. You have all kinds of free time,” I’m going to send them to read this post. Maybe not. I like the illusion of sitting on the beach writing at leisure. I’ve not experienced it, but I like the illusion. Maybe I need the fantasy more than they do!
Now during this, I can’t diminish the importance of hearing from Kathy. I needed those boosts she so cheerfully gave about the books. I needed the information she was kind enough to look up for me because I was stuck and couldn’t do it myself. She was a lifeline for me. You’ve heard me say, to have a friend you must be one. Well, Kathy is one—over and over and over again. (I hope you have a Kathy in your life. It’s essential to sanity and certainly to peace.)
I can’t diminish the importance of hearing from my agent, Chip, either. He’s always supportive, but he was just terrific. His notes came at just the right moments to keep me from jumping out the window—which would have resulted in, at most, a sprained ankle, since it’d be jumping onto a deck so the drop is about two feet and the only window-jumping I’d consider… well, outside of a fire or something. J
Where are the wins? (I heard you asking.)
Kathy was and is a win. Chip was and is a win. And in one of those communications, he gave me some outstanding news. The negotiations are over. I’m going to be writing a new series for Zondervan, an imprint of Harper Collins. Yay! (picture me doing those cartwheels, because I surely am). More on this new series to follow. This post is turning into a book, but I am very happy with this development and we’ll find a way to celebrate together after revisions and book three of Lost, Inc. are done.
Mike and Apple are a win. That my backup didn’t fail me, Time Machine working so elegantly, my hard drive not crashing and losing everything and corrupting everything even though it was damaged is a win.
There are tons of wins. I am not a techie. Yet all this worked out.
And now, my friends, you know why I’ve been such a scapegrace on my blog and all but absent from Facebook and Twitter and Pinterest and LinkedIn and gone from my favorite haunts: The Book Club Network and The Story Garden.
I hope things are easier in your neck of the woods. If not, know you’re not alone. If so, I’m thrilled for you.
I have to disclose that in the middle of all this, I had lunch with my daughter and the angels (my pet name for my grans). The youngest invited me to a movie, Lomax, so we went right then—all of us. I confess I dozed off, but the eldest angel nudged me (good thing or I’d have missed the show!) and that restored more balance than anything else I could have done. I treasure every second. So if you’re having a few trials, stop—the world will go on just fine and things are already worrisome, so….—and spend a few hours with your angels, whatever form they might take. You’ll be so much better for it. Refreshed. Think refreshed.
So it’s been a ride of woes and wins. It always is, isn’t it? Sometimes not as intense, but we’re always experiencing both.
I don’t know about you, but I could use a little more win time—when I can enjoy it. That would be good. It’d be great. But I’ll take those wins any time and I’m grateful for them.
Blessings,
Vicki
Wanted to share some special Kindle edition book sale news with you this morning.
MIND READER is free Wed., 3/21 and Thursday until 11:59 pm Pacific.
Beyond the Misty Shore is on sale for $1.99.
GIRL TALK: LETTERS BETWEEN FRIENDS is on sale for $0.99.
It’s a good day in my neighborhood!
Blessings,
Vicki
For years, I’ve written what I call Sunday books. Not because they’re religious in nature, but because they are books I wrote for myself mostly on Sunday afternoons for the sheer love of story. I’ve written many Sunday books in the past two decades, but Girl Talk is the first of them I’ve published.
These are books that are a little odd, quirky, ones that don’t follow my typical suspense theme, though they do have suspense of some type in them. You see, when you first start writing, you’re given a lot of latitude in what you write. Readers, editors, agents, and booksellers don’t have expectations that you, the writer, must meet. But once you start publishing works, you set expectations and then you must feed them. This is why many authors’ most original works are in their earliest projects. They have the freedom to publish what they will.
The more you publish, the more expectations you’ve set. So what you write takes on the form of a pyramid. The base starts out wide, where you have a lot of latitude, but the higher the career ladder you climb, the less latitude you have—you’re working up toward the point of the pyramid.
I’ve blazed a lot of trails in the last two decades but I’ve done so at a cost. The redemption that’s enabled me to keep publishing is that I retained specific novel elements—suspense, mystery and romance with a healing theme—and those things remained in every book I wrote, regardless of genre. The novel’s focus determined its genre. That enabled me to continue to write outside the box and still meet expectations. Like any thinking author, I never wanted to disappoint readers.
And yet all along odd stories captured my imagination and then my heart and those that wouldn’t let go needed to be written. To ignore them was impossible, to publish them at that time, also impossible. Publishers want more of the same only different. These Sunday books weren’t the same and were definitely different. So I wrote them with no intention of publishing them, just because I loved them. Just because they nagged me and captivated me and stole my heart and wouldn’t let go and I knew if I didn’t write them I’d regret it. I like to avoid regrets whenever I can. So I wrote, read and was content with that.
Now much has changed in the industry and I have the opportunity to publish them. GIRL TALK is the first Sunday book to be released to other eyes. Yet the expectation to readers hasn’t vanished. After nearly thirty books, it’s pretty firm. So I needed a signal—some way to let readers know that this book was my book but it was different. I created a new name and linked it to mine to be that signal. Kali Kaye was born. So on the cover of GIRL TALK, you’ll see “Vicki Hinze writing as Kali Kaye.” That’s my signal to readers that this is one of my Sunday books.
I’m excited about this. I wrote GIRL TALK in 1993. Just thinking about it makes me giddy. After all these years—nineteen years—of pulling it off the storage shelf of Sunday books to read it now and then, finally someone else will have the opportunity to read it, too. Absolutely, I’m giddy, and hopeful the story of these four girls growing up in the 1960s and 70s will steal your heart as they stole mine.
So what about this story did that—stole my heart?
To truly grasp that, you need to be immersed in what it was like being a girl on the brink of womanhood in the 1960s and 70s. Things were so different for females then. Careers, relationships, social mores. These were girls and then women on the cusp of sweeping change and change is never without pain or confusion. Never without trials and challenges and condemnation. If you were a working mom, you were condemned for neglecting your family. If you were a stay at home mom, you were condemned for being a financial drain on your family. Much that is talked about openly today wasn’t even whispered about behind closed doors then, and that led to many Forrest Gump type moments. Half-truths and misconceptions were related as facts, and only time and personal experience proved what was what.
Every generation has its trials and its moments, but few generations packed so many into such a short period of time as that of these four girls. Each of them faces them in their own way, struggles to find their feet and their way in the world, just as girls do now. But because this generation did what it did, the next has fewer battles and more information and knowledge: it’s better armed for battle.
Some will claim the reason is because society gave them information or knowledge. They’re wrong. It’s because the last generation of women had friends who stood by them, right or wrong. Friends who cared enough to kick their butts then held their hands and walked with them through the fire. Friends.
Family is one thing. But friends are freely chosen and drawn into our inner circle. They know us in ways our family doesn’t because we must protect our family. Women have to be the strong ones, the ones who fix what’s broken, right what’s wrong. Other women know that none of that happens without significant costs. Often family does not know this, and we would not have them know it. It is friends who listen and share wisdom and guide us through fires and lift us up when life beats us down. And that is the core of the epistolary story, GIRL TALK: Letters Between Friends.
I can’t guarantee your reaction. I can tell you that I saw snippets of myself in all four of the girls. I laughed at the girlish misconceptions and felt wistful about illusions shattered—something we all endure—and I wept at the challenges no girl or woman should ever have to face being endured at great cost. Mostly, I came to better understand them all and to respect them for the dignity in their struggles. And in doing so, I came to deeply appreciate those in my life who have been my long-term friends.
My hope is that GIRL TALK: LETTERS BETWEEN FRIENDS does these same things for you. And with that wish, I release it to you…
Blessings,
Vicki
_______________________________________
Learn more about GIRL TALK here.
Normally I’m a pretty disciplined person. But recently a few factors combined at once and my inner child rebelled and insisted it come out to play. There was the fact that after four weeks of negotiations, they broke down and I walked away from a book deal with an editor I wanted to work with on books I wanted to write. That disappointment combined with the fact that Hubby and I have been trying to take a vacation for over two years and our schedules just wouldn’t coalesce.
That was compounded by the fact that we’ve been married thirty-five years and yet never have taken a honeymoon. As with many military families there was either time or money but never both at the same time. Time was the hardest, I have to say. We either used it to go home to see family or we didn’t see family. Looking back, I’m glad we did that because now all those we went to see have passed on. But the fact remained that Hubby and I had never simply had a honeymoon or a vacation with just the two of us.
Add to that, we both have birthdays within a month of each other. Mine in March, Hubby’s in April. The timing wasn’t terrific. NOT THIS TIME had just been released. MIND READER had just been released, The SEASCAPE Trilogy had just been released. But I was determined, so I sat down and scanned the schedule. I would find a time for us to take a trip.
Well, I have a book coming out every month for the next 13 months, with one month off during the summer—the hottest part of the year down south. Not really a great time to be outside overly long. Heat and humidity? What to do, what to do?
That’s when my inner child rebelled. Do it now. Go now! And because of those soured negotiations, I was just in the mood to listen to it. It was time to play. And what better place to give your inner child free reign than Disney?
And so Hubby and I booked a suite at Disney’s Cornado Springs Resort, packed our bags, notified the kids we’d be gone, and we took off. I have to say we were as excited as children, almost giddy. This was something we haven’t had the opportunity to do—to leave behind responsibilities and obligations and just indulge in being carefree.
(Photo courtesy of coolspotters.com)
The first day was wonderful. The second was even better. We did all of Epcot and I had as much fun observing people as doing all the things we were doing. Adults wearing mouse ears, and mad hatter hats and having their faces painted. It was hilarious. My inner child was elated.
Then I stumbled into an ottoman and broke my toe. Walking was not possible. I figured that was it on the fun front. But they had these electric scooters and that seemed like a great idea—until I learned you had to parallel park them. Guys, I’ll admit. I can’t parallel park. Just cannot do it. But the resort had an alternative—a wheelchair. So I spent the next three days in a wheelchair and Hubby and I did all the parks. We laughed, we played, we had fun. You can’t turn the writer off, of course, so I spent a lot of time people-watching. Many were kind, some were rude, and more were unconscious, meaning while they are snapping photos, you are quite apt to end up with someone backing into you and landing in your lap. If you can laugh about that, and we did, you’ll still have a great time.
One thing I didn’t expect was the number of people who address the person pushing the chair about the person in the chair. That was unexpected and I have to say I gained a new awareness. These people didn’t mean to be rude. Actually, I think they intended a kindness. Not to put more on me than I could bear. They had no idea what my challenge was or how it impacted me. Still, that took a bit of adjusting and I have to tell you, I’m retaining that new awareness.
On my birthday, we spent the day at Animal Kingdom. In the chair, I can’t tell you a lot of what’s there. On the trails, I mostly I saw backsides and ankles. It was pretty thrilling to see if we could wander the maze without clipping anyone. I turned at one point to Hubby and said, “This is not fun.” We decided to break for lunch and if the experience didn’t get better to abandon it and move on to other things. On the way, we passed a windowed courtyard that was all but abandoned. Tigers played in the courtyard. Tigers are special to me because my dad always called me Tiger. So here we are, no backsides and ankles blocking the view and I’m parked in front of this widow watching the tigers and one walks up to the widow and is nose to nose with me. We stared at each other and in my head, I blessed that Tiger. He didn’t move. It was an amazing moment. I can’t describe it beyond saying it was special, almost like a heaven-sent birthday wish from my dad. A little boy came running over and the tiger walked away. Things went totally uphill from there.
The last day, it rained all day. Still in rebellion mode, Hubby and I hit the Magic Kingdom anyway. It never stopped raining. We had on rain jackets, declared it was just water and had ourselves a blast. I stomped so many puddles that day—one-footed. Those of you know me know that one of my main missions in life has been to prevent other writers from stepping into the same mud puddles I’ve stepped in. Well, in an odd way, obliterating these rain puddles was eradicating them so no one could step in them again. (I told you my inner child was at play!) It was one of the best things ever; stomping those puddles. Reading this, I can see it sounds silly. Maybe you had to be there. It wasn’t silly at all but empowering. I loved it!
Six hours later, still soaked from the knees down, I started sneezing and snagged a fever. <sigh> For the last three days, I’ve slept about twenty of every twenty-four hours and felt half-dead. Today I’m determined to get back to the schedule and the three thousand plus emails waiting. At least to get started on them. It’s going to take a while to get caught up.
But even feeling like crud, Hubby and I had a wonderful time and we’re already planning our next trip. This one with the kids and the angels. One of the greatest joys for us in this trip was knowing our kids and grands had all just been there and having heard about their favorite this or that and seeing the magic and wonder in them and their reactions to their experiences . . . well, we want to see that first hand. (Besides, I love roller coasters and Hubby’s not a fan, though he did go on two with me. Two of the angels LOVE them, so we’ll hit them all!) And I so want to see the littlest angel in It’s a Small World. Her dad says she was clapping and awestruck. What gran wouldn’t love seeing that?
Now if you’re still reading this, you might think it was a lousy trip. Broken toe, chair confined, and the grand finale, the crud. It wasn’t. My inner child had a terrific time—Hubby’s too, as evidenced in a photo of him being choked by a dinosaur and sending a photo to our daughter of us making terrified faces—on a River Boat cruise. She’s still cracking up at that one. So are the Angels. Us, playing like children. They’re so not used to seeing us in that light. We’re not used to being in that light. But we’re going to work harder at getting used to it.
And now it’s time to get back to work. I have killers to catch and paths to light and problems to solve as well as career decisions to make. Because of the trip, GIRL TALK was delayed so now I have to focus on its release. If your inner child isn’t rebelling and you happen to need something to read, remember that NOT THIS TIME, the three SEASCAPE books, MIND READER are now there for you—and GIRL TALK will be shortly.
I did return home to some good news for my readers who like large print. The three Seascape books, Beyond the Misty Shore, Upon a Mystic Tide and Beside a Dreamswept Sea, will be coming out in that format. I’ll keep you posted as to when.
The biggest lesson in all of this is that there is never a good time to break away. Not when you’re busy and your life is full and your commitments heavy. Sometimes you just have to create a window and go. Your inner child will thank you.
Blessings,
Vicki
A note to those who have gotten ONE WAY TO WRITE A NOVEL.
Yesterday I learned that the Kindle file for this book is corrupt. I’ve pulled it until it can be overhauled and re-uploaded. If you’ve previously downloaded a copy, you’ll be able to get the new copy when it’s back online. It’s going to take a bit of time because I’m under heavy commitments right now and so is the editor. I’ll post again to let you know when it’s available again.
I’m not sure what happened, but it did. The important thing to me is that you know the problem is being addressed. Of course, I hope you’ve not been inconvenienced.
ON NOT THIS TIME.
I’m dancing on the clouds this morning. Joy H. for Readers Favorite gave NOT THIS TIME a Five Star Review. You can read it HERE.
ON BEYOND THE MISTY SHORE
Kindle has this, the first book in the Seascape trilogy on sale for $1.99. That’s over a $12.00 savings. I’m not sure for how long–I just ran into it–but wanted to pass it along. You can find it HERE.
SERIOUSLY WRITE chat with DAWN KINZER
Recently Dawn Kinzer at Seriously Write and I chatted writing. If you’d like to eavesdrop, you’re certainly welcome to do so. You can find the chat HERE.
Blessings,
Vicki
This Saturday, I’ll be doing an all-day writers workshop with Kathy Carmichael, DE4EO Agent, Joyce Holland and Jan Whitford for Emerald Coast Writers, Inc. The theme for the day is: GET PUBLISHED IN 2012.
To get specifics on the workshop visit HERE.
The event is being held at Marina Bay Resort in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.
My topics are Traditional Publishing: What You Need to Know and Social Networking, Networking, and Credits.
Hope to see some of you there!
Blessings,
Vicki
I recently did an interview on Writing and Being a Writer with Susan Sleeman at The Suspense Zone.
If you’d like to read the interview, you can find it HERE.
Blessings,
Vicki
I had the distinct honor of being interviewed by Piper Bayard and Holmes and Daisy the Love Pooch (Piper is Daisy’s pet human).
The interview can be read HERE.
You can follow Piper here:
What a treat to get to be helicoptered to the cave for it.
Blessings,
Vicki
Today is the official publication for NOT THIS TIME, the third and final book in the Crossroads Crisis Center series.
One would think that the “newness” of a book being published—the excitement, the knots in the stomach awaiting reader responses to see if they love the story as much as I do—would wear off after nearly thirty books. But it doesn’t.
Instead I find myself walking down memory lane. Reliving receiving the first copy of the first book, the intense emotion I felt on putting it in my mother’s hands, the sight of her reading the dedication and bursting into tears because she was so moved, so honored to see her name in a book with her child’s name on the cover. No one has had a lifelong love affair with books and loved them more than my mom. That memory still moves me deeply and is all the more precious now that she’s passed on.
Seeing one of my books on the shelf at the bookstore for the first time. Yes, I took photos. After all the time and work invested, finally—finally—it was real. Oh, who could forget realizing a dream that had consumed them for so many years?
The look on my husband’s face, on the faces of my children. One teen’s friend coming over and saying, “Hey, did you know there’s a famous author living in your neighborhood?” And my son laughing. “Naw, that’s just my mom.”
Then I walk down memory lane to my first signing. It stormed so hard that day, and yet our mayor showed up—and he has for every book released and signed since. And the first radio interview, a call-in show, where the first caller, who hadn’t yet read the book suggested I write nonfiction about real women, and I explained why this character was real and encompassed much I respect and admire in women. He went from hostile to convert, and I learned the value of loving what you write and the passion only revealed when it’s coupled with compassion.
And then I walk on, through all the releases after that, each holding its own place in my memory and heart. Each with its own firsts and special moments. Things that go unnoticed by many, unknown by more, but ones that have woven into my personal tapestry and helped shape the writer I’ve become. The person I’ve become.
How lucky I am to have had these experiences, these days. How grateful I am for them. And how happy I am that today the door opens for new memories of a new book that now ventures out to find its place in the world.
With excitement, knotted stomach and fondest hopes, I release it, wishing:
May NOT THIS TIME be a blessing to all readers and serve them well.
Vicki
___________________________________________________________________________
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Decisions require us to look at what is but also at what is possible. If what is lacks potential and we settle for it, we neither recognize nor value our purpose, and if we do not value our purpose, then who shall?
–Vicki Hinze
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September 26, 2011
WHY AN AUTHOR’S EARLY WORKS ARE USUALLY MOST ORIGINAL || Read More
November 19, 2011
The Christmas Blues: When the World Rejoices and You Mourn || Read More
December 17, 2011
Lessons and the Writer’s Environmental Impact || Read More
October 13, 2011
National Day of Prayer || Read More
May 3, 2012
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