Looking Back With Gratitude

Thank you all who kept my spirit fed this first year of Trusting the Currents. You don’t know how much I appreciate your support and words of encouragement through all my self-doubt. It was a ten-year journey bringing Trusting the Currents into the world. Addie Mae changed the direction of my life and has been my greatest teacher. Whenever I question life, I open the book to a random page and somehow, there lies the answer. (Try it!)

In February, the magnificent Shirley Moulton of The Academi of Life in NYC, discovered Trusting the Currents and hosted my debut book event with Agapi Stassinopoulos, the beautiful, joyful author of Unbinding the Heart. They were both a blessing. It was a magical night and my coming out party. Each of you who were there, know what I mean.

perf5.250x8.000.inddBy May, out of hundreds of entrants from all the major publishers, my Indie-published Trusting the Currents won the 2014 Nautilus Gold Award in Fiction. Last year’s winner was Barbara Kingsolver for Flight Behavior. The Nautilus Book Awards honors books of high literary merit that “promote spiritual growth, conscious living and positive social change.” Past winners have included the Dalai Lama, Marianne Williamson, Deepak Chopra and Eckhart Tolle. I am still so honored and proud!

During 2014, there have been book events at bookstores and cafés and visits to book clubs, which were great fun. I would love to do more of them. In November, I won Noveltunity’s voters book of the month. It is a global online book club. To date, I possess 32 heartfelt 5-star reviews on Amazon. I can’t tell you what they mean to me. They are like fuel to my faith! And I have received incredible emails from people who have been profoundly touched by Addie Mae and her family.

What has been most surprising is how Trusting the Currents has crossed the boundaries of race, religion, gender, culture, and age with its universal messages. I expected it to be a novel for women, yet almost half of my reviews are from men…and they are quite moving. I’ve heard from a Christian black woman, orthodox Ethiopian priest, ordained minister, a Jewish psychologist who is also a Buddhist, and an English Anglican priest. Readers ranging in age from 17 to a 94 have responded with excitement. Beyond the US, people from Canada, England, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Chile have enjoyed the story. Everyone who contacted me felt like the book was written for them. That’s Addie Mae.

Before I published Trusting the Currents last November, Debbie Robins, an author and fabulous life coach counseled me that it takes time, be patient, “publishing has a very long runway.” I haven’t always heeded her wise words. Getting a book noticed in this busy, crowded world is not easy, particularly one as unique as Trusting the Currents. I am eternally grateful for those of you who have held it in your heart and up high into the light so others could see it. Really, I love you!

From the first time I heard Addie Mae’s whispers, Trusting the Currents has had a life of its own. It brings me who and what I need exactly when I need it. (And not before!) I have had to live by my own lesson to “trust the currents,” even when I did not believe in them. I learned that for the book to thrive, I must be an authentic, practiced messenger of its wisdom.

Breaking through into 2015, there are many amazing things happening with Trusting the Currents. It is so alive! I am filled with gratitude, excitement and hope for everything the book will accomplish and every life it will touch in this most memorable year.

As long as the road has already been, I’m sure the ride is really just beginning. And boy, am I ready! Looking forward to seeing you over the bridge as we welcome a brand new year and all it will become.

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