Dear Friends,
In 1995 I published the novel Joy Outweighs the Sorrow. During that same time I was teaching two periods a day, for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, as a volunteer at the West Jordan Seminary after the fire that destroyed their building the year before. My teaching and writing endeavors were cut short however, by a hospital stay for a series of small strokes, which was followed by the death of my son, and then two open-heart surgeries to repair a hole in my heart.
In 1995 I published the novel Joy Outweighs the Sorrow. During that same time I was teaching two periods a day, for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, as a volunteer at the West Jordan Seminary after the fire that destroyed their building the year before. My teaching and writing endeavors were cut short however, by a hospital stay for a series of small strokes, which was followed by the death of my son, and then two open-heart surgeries to repair a hole in my heart.
With my heart broken in so many ways, as I recovered, I mourned the death of my son to such an extent that I didn’t write more than email, for eight years! Then in December of 2007 my daughter encouraged me to start a blog. I did! And I discovered a great satisfaction again in expressing myself. Since then, a couple of friends have asked if I thought I would ever write for publication again, and I always replied no—I don’t think so.
But when an email friend, who is an editor and many times over published author, said to me after reading one of my blog posts, “You are a writer, and writer’s need to write!” I was taken aback, because I didn’t think of myself as a writer. I’m not a writer! I’m just an insignificant little grandma blogger. I had been so lost, for so many years, that I had completely negated in my mind that, in fact, I am a published author of a few magazine articles, and a novel.
But when an email friend, who is an editor and many times over published author, said to me after reading one of my blog posts, “You are a writer, and writer’s need to write!” I was taken aback, because I didn’t think of myself as a writer. I’m not a writer! I’m just an insignificant little grandma blogger. I had been so lost, for so many years, that I had completely negated in my mind that, in fact, I am a published author of a few magazine articles, and a novel.
And then—I started going to a small writing group formed in our ward Relief Society, to encourage us write our personal histories. I don’t know why I went, it was very intimidating, and I did tell the group when I attended the second time with nothing to share, “I can tell you one thing for sure, I won’t be writing about my childhood. I’ve had enough of that.”
Well, as they say—famous last words. After stumbling upon the information that, out-of-print book rights revert back to the author, I decided to confirm this with my old publisher whom I was certain wouldn’t even remember me. But he did! He was enthusiastic and kind, and so I jumped in with both feet to prepare the manuscript for electronic-publishing. Oh that it were so easy. I haven’t read my book in years—I couldn’t even remember the sequence of events, and I wasn’t certain that I would even still like it!
I did! It moved my soul again, as I remembered the reasons I had written it in the first place, and I again had the desire to share; but with that renewed desire, came new impressions which lead me to write an expanded Author’s Note at the beginning, and to share more actual experiences of my childhood. That difficult childhood that I was adamant I would NOT be writing about again!
Dear reader, I assure you this is not easy for me, but as I promised in the Afterword of my book, I feel compelled to share with those of you who need to know—what is real. So, if you still want to know more, do visit the “Behind the Scenes” tab on my webpage. And if you haven’t read my book please enjoy the “Sample Chapters.” I am pleased to announce that my book, Joy Outweighs the Sorrow, is now available at the Kindle Store: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0050VAIII
While you are there please leave a review on the Amazon site! Thank you so much, because it is the reviews that sell books! If you have previously read my book, you can leave a review without purchasing the book!
