Eight months ago, I launched my latest book, The Secret Sand Circle, with plans to travel across the country for signings at libraries, bookstores, and book clubs. It was a successful pattern I began in 2014 with my Kindle Top Ten bestseller, ๐ช๐๐๐๐ ๐ฏ๐๐๐: ๐จ ๐ต๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ณ๐๐๐, ๐ณ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
But as the saying goes, โWe plan, and God laughs.โ And lately, I've been hearing laughter from the heavens, loud and clear!
After months of national pitches, I have received one invitation, two commitments, and many maybes. Given my past successes, the lack of response has been baffling, causing me to doubt the three years I spent writing this bookโand even my abilities as an author.
Then I heard my motherโs voice repeating what she had preached all of her life: โHave faith.โ
That reminder sent me digging through my oversized to-do basket for a notebook I had purchased in January. It has a burgundy leather cover, an elegant gold pen, and one word written across the flap: faith. Holding it felt like a salve to my wounded author's heart and soul.
I opened it and began writingโnot a story or essay, but ideas for changing how I connected people and places with my book. First, I listed the events I had pursued and the few I had secured. Seeing them on paper reignited my determination. ๐ป๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐ ๐ช๐๐๐๐๐ deserved better.
So did I.
I started by making the difficult decision to withdraw from a book festival to which I was committed. From the beginning, the trip had felt like trying to fit a square peg into a round holeโanother of my motherโs favorite sayings. Once I sent the cancellation, I felt a sprig of hope bloom.
Next, I focused on the bookโs "Community Benefit Initiative." I donate a combined 20 percent of every sale to NAMI Buffalo/WNY and the local NAMI chapter where I am speaking, in support of peer-to-peer mental health counseling. The initiative has not grown as I had hoped, but I still believe that the bookโand the causeโhave strong potential.
That belief led to a recent conversation with Shannon Higbee, Chief Strategy Officer at The Alliance for Rights and Recovery, a New York organization supporting mental health recovery and rehabilitation. A copy of ๐ป๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐ ๐ช๐๐๐๐๐ is now on its way to Shannon because of her enthusiasm for my book. the associated initiative---and the possibilities.
Finally, I returned to my notebook and listed the places where I had spoken and signed books over the past decade. With a family wedding bringing me to Denver in September, I decided to reach out to libraries and organizations there. After sending the emails, I walked away from my computer, bracing for more silence. Yet when I noticed my notebook I did all I could to, instead, have faith.
Within hours, a lovely individual named Teal responded.
She wrote that her organizationโs September speaker had just cancelled. Because it is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month and National Recovery Month, she believed ๐ป๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐ ๐ช๐๐๐๐๐ would be a perfect book to highlight in an in-person presentation. She also invited me to appear on the organization's newly launched podcast, โRestricted by Corsets but Never Silenced.โ
Who is this group you ask?
I am honored to share that it is the Denver Woman's Press Club founded in 1898 as a gathering place where, "...writers build friendships, find support, and strengthen their skills and confidence."
After months of doubt, the message was clear. All I need to do, is have faith.