I’m at a loss for adjectives to describe this past week. So many great things happened on so many levels. And the best part about it all was that the greatness is continuing.
My second romance novel with Soul Mate Publishing, LOVE IN THE FOREST, was released on June 2.
To celebrate, we offered my first novel, TEN BUCKS AND A WISH, for free on amazon.com. That jumped it’s rank up from being in the millions to making it to #209 as of this morning. WOW!!!! To think that many people were interested enough in downloading it just blows my mind. THANK YOU, Debbie Gilbert, for being an amazing Publisher and mentor.
It was fun checking the rankings throughout the week as they change hourly it seemed. And just went I thought the ride was over and sales would start dipping again, I’d make a new “high” rank and it would blow my mind all over again.
I don’t get paid for those downloads in $$$’s. The payment comes at this time in knowing MY WORK, MY CHARACTERS, MY STORIES are finally being shared by people I may never meet.
I shared posts through Facebook writing groups I belong to that connect me to readers and other writers. I sent a plea out to my fellow writers of CNYRW asking them to share the news of my new release. Their response was overwhelmingly supportive. I’ve been a member of CNYRW since 2004 or 2005 I think, with a short break when Life pulled me in other directions. But the support and knowledge I receive from these amazing authors is what keeps me going, even when they do not realize it.
Which brings me to another great experience that happened this past week.
Saturday, I sat in on an online workshop hosted by CNYRW, Growth Hacking a Best Seller with Liz Pelletier (Publisher of Entangled Publishing. I believe I felt a shift in my mindset, bringing me from a writer who is happy with writing to a writer who loves writing and wants more than just being happy with writing.
Then on Sunday, I sat in on a lecture by my new friend and fellow WitchLit author, Laura Parry, Deathwalking: Psychopomp Work in the Modern World. My current book, LOVE IN THE FOREST, features a character who has been nicknamed DeathWalker because she communicates with the dead. I never knew there was an actual “thing” called deathwalking. I thought I’d made it up. So thanks, Laura, for that very educational workshop.
Jumping back to the start of the weekend… we had an impromptu fire with a couple of friends we called last minute. Friday night marked the first fire of this year we’ve shared with friends. It felt good to hang out under the stars and just BE, without any major worries about possibly infecting and/or killing one another accidentally.
Finally, last but not least and saving the best for my grand finale… I got to see my kids and my grand furbaby MISO. For the first time. All together. And we hugged. A LOT. We decided to start up a D&D adventure, as all of us were enjoying the game in other parts of our life. During COVID those games fell a part, so we thought, why not? it gives us a common thread and reason to come together, and fills a gap left with the absence of our other games. It’s easier for me to have family members in the house, all of whom are vaccinated, and we are keeping it under Ten as per the COVID guidelines.
OUR FIRST D&D SESSION IN PERSON and the first time I’ve gotten to see my kids together SINCE LAST SUMMER. L-R, David, our amazing DM, Anthony, Jolene, James, Brett, Allie, and THE MIGHTY MISO MY AMAZING GRANDFUR BABY at Allie’s Feet.
So, last week was fill with abundance and gratitude on so many levels.
David and I repeatedly state how blessed we are with our lives, and how blessed we are for all the people we share this journey with, whether in person or virtually.
Thank you, everyone, for making my life so magically wonderful on so many levels.
Janina
Janina Grey 