THE BEST CHRISTMAS GIFT OF ALL

This entry is part of a blog hop and is a bit late going up but I have a good excuse:  my mother was in the hospital and I remained with her for the 2 days.  Since coming home, I'm doing breathing treatments every 4 hours round the clock.  So I figure that's a pretty darn good excuse.

When faced with what to write, I was undecided.   All I could really think about was that I was very grateful that my mother is with me for yet another Christmas.  You see, 9 years ago, she was given 6 months.  Stage 4 lung cancer.  She has beaten the cancer.  One of only 2% to pass the 5 year mark.  But a Thankful or Grateful post is more of a Thanksgiving blog.  So I decided on Christmas Wishes.
When this season rolls around, we are asked:   "What do you want for Christmas?"  And like everyone else, I sure have a list of wants and needs.  But when it comes right down to it, I have what I want.  I have my family.  I have my mother for another Christmas.

At the heart of Christmas, buried beneath the commercialism and brightly wrapped packages and the anticipation of tearing into those lovely wrappings, is Family.  Who do we share that morning with, the day with but Family. 

We gather to celebrate the day and what it means to each family.  We eat, visit, laugh, gather around beautiful trees with music in the background and share traditions and of course, those lovely gifts.  But the greatest gift we share and receive this day is the love of Family.

I remember the first Christmas my mother was with me.  I  brought her to my home end of January, knew how close I'd come to losing her Christmas the month before when she was not with me.  That year, it was day by day.  Each day a blessing, each doctor visit a sigh of relief but when that first Christmas came, it was joyous.  I still had my mother with us.  And each year is a stolen year for she was not supposed to have survived 6 months, let alone nearly 9 years.   

And every year that passes I am grateful to have that one so important part of Christmas to share:  Family.  My husband, my children, and my mother.   So when asked what I want for Christmas, I have a list for my kids and my children but in my heart, I have what I want.  Another year with each of them and another stolen year with my mother.

So what is Christmas to you.  Who are you most grateful to share this holiday with? 

Also, don't forget to follow the blog hop to many more wonderful sites, each with gift-givaways as well. 
All who leave a comment will be entered into a contest to win a Frilly scarf made by me like the one to the right.   Color will be different as this one isn't knitted up as of yet.  There will also be a free E-pub copy of White Dawn. 

Now that you've read my blog, go blog hopping and visit these other great sites and enter to win more great prizes.



Books available at Carina Press (also on Amazon & Barnes & Noble) 
Also, follow me on the following sites.
http://susanedwards.com
http://susanedwardsauthor.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/susan_edwards http://www.facebook.com/pages/Susan-Edwards/40226247104

DECEMBER CONTEST #2

Today's post is tied to my website contest this month.  I'm hoping readers will be coming here from there!  To those just arriving, read about the new contest for December either here or there.  Whew!  

For this contest, I am offering: 

~T-Shirt with my logo on it

~Hand-made book cover

~A copy of one of my books.  Your choice.  If you have all four of the ones just released, then you'll receive White Wolf in February.

The rules are simple:  Follow me here on my blog.  That's it. 

Very easy.  But those of you willing to do a bit more and be rewarded with multiple entries, I'm offering additional changes to win. 

~Leave a comment on any post here on my blog I'll enter your name a second time.  I do ask that comments be thoughtful to the blog topic.  If you are already a follower, just make a comment to this blog posting for your first entry.

Want more chances to win?   How about more of that great holiday spirit!  I'm in the giving mood here so here are some ways to get even more entries.

~Make a comment on any site where I've blogged in the last couple month.   Only one comment per site allowed, including this site.  Blog comment must be to a blog I wrote to be eligible in the case of group blog sites.  You must send me an email at:  susan@susanedwards.com with the link.

~Write a review for  any of the newly released White Titles.  Again, send the link to me.

~Like me on my facebook page http://tinyurl.com/7ccou4n and leave a comment there.

~Tweet something about one of the four books that just came out with a mention of my twitter name
   @susan_edwards

~Follow me on Twitter and email me to let me know you did so to the above email address.

I compiled a list on the contest page of my website just to make it easier for you.  Of course, if you have your own sites like goodreads or others, feel free!  

Again, Send links to susan@susanedwards.com with the subject title Contest #2.

Winner will be announced on December 15th.  Winner will be chosen via random drawing.

Good luck and have fun!

GRATITUDE

I know that this should probably have been posted closer to Thanksgiving when we really focus on thanks and gratitude but I believe we should practice gratitude daily.  Even hourly (something I am trying to do).  Their is so much in my life that I am thankful for but for this blog posting, I'm going to focus on just one:  my readers.

November and December have been very exciting as I watched the rerelease of the first four books in my White Series in digital format by Carina Press.  I am so pleased (and grateful) to have these books once again available to my readers:  new and old and those who missed some of the titles the first  time around.  This series is so close to my heart—each character became my brother, sister, best friend, etc. and to see them republished makes it seem like a long awaited family reunion!   And as I read each book myself, something I never did when the books came out in print format, I am eager to become reacquainted with each character!  Even the villains, for there is nothing like seeing justice served! 

I loved writing about this family just as my readers have loved reading about their lives.  Especially Jeremy Jones and White Dove.  Readers weren't just asking for their story  but began demanding it!  And honestly, I was right there with each and every reader for that was one story that just called to me and I chomped at the bit until the books before White Dove were written.  So from two people (Sarah & Golden Eagle), who met by chance (first in my mind), eleven books were born. 

Over the years, I have received so many reader letters and comments and emails and have been amazed at how these characters from my series have affected so many different people:  from the mother who read the books to her dying daughter, to the lonely women who found companionship and to women who appreciated the guts, and the willingness of the heroine’s and hero’s to do whatever it took to overcome adversity and so many more reader stories.

In my writing, I’ve tried to create more than a satisfying story and read.  I wanted to add value to these books by addressing some of society’s problems like abuse and handicaps.  My blind heroine, Mattie (a child in White Dreams and not blind until her story in White Deception) was one of the hardest books to write yet one of the most satisfying.  I was so afraid that I would receive letters protesting the fact that she does not regain her sight by a "miracle" but I didn’t receive a single complaint.  Mattie was so comfortable and in tune to her world, that “fixing” her would have cheapened the story and her courage.   I am grateful that my readers agreed. 

Each of the White Books is a story that means something to me.  Jessie in White Wolf is a lot like I was in my youth.  Just try and tell me no back then without a very good reason and I was all set to rebel.  I could go on and one with each book but then I’d be writing a book instead of a blog!

I will say that so many of the letters I received were stories in and of themselves but with one common theme:   a love of reading, love and appreciation for characters who made a difference in their own lives.  Even after the print version of the books were no longer available, letters still poured in from readers asking for the books, and even for new stories.

Just writing this letter makes me all teary and homesick for the lives and characters of this series but just as these books are once again available to my readers, they are there for me as I plan to become re-acquainted with each book and each character.  A reunion of sorts!

Speaking of reunions, (you knew this might be coming, right?), I am planning a twelfth White book.  So many characters to choose from though!

(Coming Feb. 20, 2012)

But right  now, as the title suggests, I am grateful to see the White series available once more.  And I am grateful to CarinaPress and very thankful for my editor Angela James, for making this series available once again. 

How about you?  How do you view "gratitude".  Do you think of it often?  Rarely?  Can you sit down and write out 100 things you are truly grateful for in your life?  Could you do that today?  And again tomorrow?  And the day after?  What would we be as a society if each and everyone of us practiced gratitude and consciously gave thanks 24/7? 

I'll start now by saying I am thankful for each and every person who reads this blog.  Oh, I started my list of 100. 

ROMANCING THE -- PAST

All historical writers in someway, and in various degrees do exactly that: we Romance the Past. You know what I’m talking about here. Take myself for example.

I write Native American Historical Romances. I have young, virile, handsome warriors who carry off (sometimes) helpless (well, how about victims of circumstance) women not of their culture and take them back to their tribes where the man and woman from two complete different worlds fall in love and overcome any and all barriers–including language!

Realistically, life for those women did not have a happily-ever-after. Sure, there were some who found happiness–maybe. I am hearing my husband snort of disbelief in my head as I write for he is a realistic person down to his engineering bones. I like to believe that not all were treated cruelly.

Okay, so why do we authors do this? Why take an era in time like the old frontier, the Civil War, any war, pirates, etc. and turn the ugly truth of what life was really like into stories of true love overcoming the impossible?

I can think of one reason: it is the era of that time period, the world long gone from us, that is somehow appealing. I’ll use my own expertise here. When readers of Native American stories, in the era where the white man and Native were dealing with territory issues, we aren’t seeing the spread of disease the white man brought to the Natives or the starvation during harsh winters or the savageness and slaughter that certainly was a big part of that time period. No, we see a freedom of living that we will never know in our lifetime no matter how many times we go camping or hiking.

The appeal is in living off the land, having no cumbersome possessions, no work demands, no bills in the mail box, no mortgage, no threat of foreclosure, no job layoffs, no mean, insensitive or jerk of a boss and–well you get the idea. When we look back, we don’t see people how they were. We see what we long for–if even for a few short hours. Sometimes, less is more?

Sure, there was work, hard work way back then. From sunrise to sunset and often long into the night but there was also plenty of time for celebration, for visiting the other women while working, the chatting and laughter, the bonding of males going off on hunts or a raiding party.

Then there is the appeal of never being alone, never wanting. Never having your children go hungry unless the entire tribe was hungry. For in those days, people shared. To own and collect and keep for the sake of owning was not a good thing. People shared what they had with those in need.

And the children! They were valued. Treasured. You’ve all heard the saying: it takes a village to raise a child? It’s true. Parents did not have to pay outrageous daycare fees so that they could attend to their duties for the children were looked after by everyone. Children were never tossed away like garbage. And a child grew up knowing he was loved. He was treated with respect, and taught to respect. After all, if a child is never given respect (or love etc) how can he give it later. Okay, there was probably mistreated children back in the era I write about but from what I know, in the pre-white man days, with most tribes, children were treasures. Unlike today where many are forgotten and swept away.

Hmm, I seem to have stepped a bit onto my soapbox. But I think you can take all my points using the Native American culture and apply it to any popular historical time period that we romance authors romanticize.

Does that mean its harmful to do what we do? I don’t believe so. There were storytellers in every culture, and not so surprisingly, stories of the same type (creation myths, moral stories, advice stories, and I’m sure some just for fun). But no matter the story, there were lessons buried beneath the words.

Today, we don’t have a tribal storyteller to pass down all that was learned from one generation to another. Instead, we have books and those books have themes that touch on all walks of life.

We today have so many things vying for our attention. I’m not even going to try to list those activities and chores, etc. I joke to my husband that if I were to write down everything I NEED to do, WANT to do, SHOULD do, FORGOT to do, I’d have a list a mile long and no hope in this lifetime of completing it.

So to keep from going slightly mad, many of us look to a time we believe or at least pretend to believe was much simpler and maybe a bit more rewarding. Sure, those stories are fiction but the world is at least in some part real but best of all, those wonderful characters in those fictionalized places become real. For at least the time we spend with them. If I as an author can take a reader out of the stress of daily living and bring them back feeling good about themselves and their world, then I'm happy.

And maybe, there will be something to be learned that can apply to our lives today. Some moral lesson, a bit of advice, that can ease the passage of our own day-to-day experiences. Most of all, when we read true-to-life stories about people facing tough times just as we are facing tough times, we know we are not alone.

Check back at my website for excerpts, reviews, and contest information (pages being updated over the next week)
http://susanedwards.com

Preorder Susan's White Series starting with the first four books. Available November 21st.

White Dawn http://tinyurl.com/7js4u44

White Dusk http://tinyurl.com/7js4u44
White Shadows http://tinyurl.com/7vdpxwk

White Wind http://tinyurl.com/7ov7ghq

CHARACTERS ARE SUCH--CHARACTERS!

Recently, I’ve been going through all my notes and files on my White Series Books with the intent of gathering information in order to write a reunion book and perhaps spin off some more White Series stories. As I am doing this, I find myself amazed over all the wonderful characters in these books, including all the secondary characters!

I’ve forgotten about so many of these great characters who complimented my hero and heroine’s! Readingabout them after so many years is like meeting up with old friends! A few might even be ready to volunteer for their own book.

 

Then there are all the children. Anyone who knows me also knows (with much eye rolling) that I LOVE babies. So it’s not surprising that my characters have children. Lots of children. I am a grandmother-in-waiting. I think that says it all. I want grandchildren. Alas, I may have to settle for giving my characters lots of children for the time being. But back to my topic here. When I left off with the different books in the series, many of my hero/heroines had at least one child. Most were babies in epilogues and now as I plan out the timelines, I get to magically watch them grow up and even give them siblings (sorry children) and also, see who has the potential for the next generation of books.

 

It’s the creation process all over again. Adding 10-15 or more years to this series, not just adds to the series total, but it changes everything and makes it all new again as I map out character charts and contemplate new plots and stories.

 

For instances, there are two girls who were adopted into the tribe in White Dove, by the hero and heroine (Jeremy and White Dove). One embraces the new life. The other is torn. What can I plot for these two girls? Then there is the believed nasty grandfather who wants them found and returned. Is he a man who loves his granddaughters or is a future villain. I could wink and say wait and find out but as of yet, I am not totally sure myself! So you see, there are many hidden stories in this series just waiting to be dug out and brought to light or to paper!

 

In my own books, one favorite couple were an old man and woman, both feisty. Rook was a grumpy old man who found love in White Wolf with an equally strong-willed and no-nonsense woman. In books written by other authors, I love Lulu, Ranger and Morelli in Janet Evonovitch’s Stephanie plum books. Then there is Hermione and Ron in the Harry Potter books, and among my favorites, Peabody, Feeney and McNab in J.D. Robb’s In Death series.

 

So, for readers who’ve read my series, who would you like to see more of? Who were your favorite secondary characters and who should I write about next? What family of children intrigue you?

 

If you are a writer, what are your thoughts on secondary characters and their role in your books or other books. Who are some of your favorite secondary characters.

 

I love secondary characters and the depth they bring to stories. How about you?

(http://susanedwards.com White Dawn, White Dusk, White Shadows, White Wind due to be re-released November 21st in digital format by http://carinapress)

Magic & the Writer

Magic & the Writer

(originally posted at http://herebemagic.blogspot.com/ )

When I first started writing historical romances, there wasn’t any magic or paranormal in my stories. After all, I wrote straight historicals. Right? Wrong! In keeping with Native American elements and beliefs, my hero’s mother had the gift of sight (White Wind Nov 2011). Okay, that was part of their world, this connection to the land, animals and spirits. In looking back, my second book also had this aspect and my third.... See a theme growing here?

In each book, I was pulling in more of the Native American spiritual/mythology into a non-paranormal world. Up to this point, I still hadn’t really considered those type of traits or gifts as magical or paranormal.

But a funny thing started to happen by the time I was writing my tenth and eleventh book. I was now ACTIVELY seeking more of the mystical elements to include in my world yet what I used still fit into the historical/Native American world. I was just using more of it, going deeper with it and expanding it. My books were immersed in paranormal and yep, might as well say it, magic! I was towing a fine line between Native American and Paranormal--and loving every minute of it for it was truly a creative process.

By the time I finished book eleven, I was hooked. I loved what I was doing within my boundaries and now I wanted to really write using paranormal and magic freely. I did so with book twelve, Summer of the Eagle (April 2012) which features a race of people who could DO cool things.

What changed from my early books? Well, the internet certainly opened more doors and with it, more possibilities! Then came the world of internet and the wealth of information at my fingertips! Suddenly I wasn’t just writing about characters in a historical setting but about the magic of living with an open mind to possibilities.

And possibilities is where I believe magic truly lies. The magic in my writing spilled over into my life as I discovered the magic that surrounds each of us, each day if we only open our eyes and mind.

Don’t believe me? Go for a walk and don’t just look at your neighbor’s houses or cars. Focus in on the beauty of the neighborhood trees, the flowers, the tiny blooms we seldom pay attention too. Lift your eyes as you walk to your car from the asphalt to the sky. Maybe you’ll see the faint shape of the moon looking down at you.

Spend a few moments gazing out your kitchen window. Can you see the birds perched on a tree or bush? How about that tiny hummingbird sitting on that very thin branch? What about the fact that we wake up to a new, bright day. Everyday. And that new day is filled with possibilities: a caring word, a child’s hug and kiss, a long awaited phone call (The Call)? So much is possible yet we seldom give it thought. The freedom to just be.

And if you are a writer, how about the magic of sitting down at your computer to write, doing something that we love (even if it is work at times). We create worlds that whether or not there is magic or paranormal elements, there certainly is magic. Connecting with even one reader in a meaningful way (even to just give that reader time away from the mundane world) is magic. And in the true style of connecting back to the Native American world that I love, I bring you back full circle: to your books and mine and the magic they contain.

So even if you do not write in the paranormal or magical genre, you have the chance to write magically. And if you are not a writer, you can live magically. Smile at a stranger, offer a few kind words. Who knows, you might bring magic into the lives of others. And you know what? It just keeps going. The magic we call life.

What’s magical about your life? Your writing? If you could do anything, be anything, write anything, what would it be, why and what is magical about it to you? Inquiring minds want to know .

Coming November 2011, Carina Press (no new covers yet) look for White Dawn, White Dusk, White Shadows and White Wind. Check out my website at http://susanedwards.com for updated news and excerpts along with a member only area for my readers. You can also sign up for my newsletter. Note: New covers should be available for view during August!

Original White Covers

Native American Historical Books -- Question

"What made you decide to write Native American Historical books?"

(Originally posted at http://lasrguest.blogspot.com/)

This question always makes me smile because I never wanted to write anything but chatty letters to friends or my great-grandmother (who loved receiving letters).

Okay, I know I just dated myself here because I grew up without computers, emails, social media or text messages! I also disliked English in high school and history? Blech!!

But I had two things going for me that led to my current writing career. First and foremost, I am an avid reader of romance (write what you know). Second, I am a natural storyteller.

I can still recall stories I told as a child, a teen, and even a young adult. However, they were not written on paper or told to others. They were in my mind and I lived them. I created them, rewrote them, went back to scenes and rewrote them. Once a "story" was perfected, I went on to a new story. Sometimes, I went back to revisit favorite past "stories".

As I grew into adult hood, I figured I was just an incurable daydreamer. It wasn't until I was in my 40's and had already sold my first book that I discovered that my daydreaming was actually storytelling! All the elements we writer’s require in our books were in my dream worlds.

Does all that sound like a writer? Yep. So this little story starts when I was married with two young children in the late 80's. My current passion during that time was Native American Historical genre. I consumed these books about strong heroines and handsome warriors like an ocean swallowing a beach! One day, in my typical "daydreaming" or "story creation mode", I came up with a heroine who meets a young, virile hero at stream. Hero was Native American and this "story" kept intruding on my thoughts--more so than normal.

I could see these two characters so clearly: she was running away from an evil uncle, and my hero was a troubled young warrior. Before I knew it I had a nice little scene going of these two people so in love and so right for each other. And so insistent that I do something I’d never done before: take them out of my head and give them life on paper (good thing I had a computer by this time). Okay, I thought. I’ll write a nice, steamy love scene. I could see it, feel it, so no problem, right?

Wrong! Before I could write about these two people, I had to know more about them.
Why was my heroine alone in the wilderness?
Why was she fleeing her uncle? What did he want and how bad did he want it?
What troubled my warrior and why was he in the same vicinity as my heroine?
Why was he drawn to my heroine aside from her blonde hair? Why her and only her?
Was he willing to risk it all for her?
Before I knew it, I had back story, and four chapters! Several people read it and told me I had to finish the story. The rest they say is history! The writer within was born!

I choose this topic for my first blog here because I never, ever considered writing to be a hidden talent. I figure my old English teachers if they ever found out I became a published author had to have been shocked to their core! It was only when I listened to that inner voice telling me to step out of my comfort zone that I made an amazing discover about myself.

The path from that first time of committing a story to paper has not been easy. It took 7 years of writing and rewriting and learning the craft of writing and submitting and rejections before an editor asked for a full manuscript. Add another year before I had my first offer, then yet another year before that first book, White Wind was on the bookshelves in 1996. Nine years total!

15 years later and once again I’m anticipating seeing White Wind and the rest of my back list with brand new covers as they are re-released in digital E-Book format through Carina Press. The excitement and anticipation is the same, as is the worry–will readers like my baby! Some things do not change!

So in retelling this story, it is my hope that someone reading this makes a self-discover of their own. Are you harboring a writer within? If so, what are you doing about it? I’d love to hear your "writer within" stories.

Coming November 21, 2011, look for White Dawn, White Dusk, White Shadows and White Wind. Check out my website at http://susanedwards.com for updated news and excerpts along with a member only area for my readers. You can also sign up for my newsletter. Note: New covers should be available for view during September!

Are You Harboring a Writer Within?

(this post originally posted at Romancing the Past--07/27/2011)

"What made you decide to write Native American Historical books?"

This is a question I am often asked. I always smile, simply because I never wanted to write anything! At least nothing more than chatty letters to friends or my great-grandmother (who loved receiving letters).

Okay, I’ve surely dated myself somewhat here because I grew up without computers, emails, social media or text messages! I also skimmed by high school English, actually, school period! It just wasn’t my thing.

But, I had two things going for me that led to my current writing career. First and foremost, I was, and still am, an avid reader of romance (write what you know). Second, I am a natural storyteller.

I remember stories I told as a child, a teen, and even a young adult. However, they were not written on paper or told to others. They were in my mind and I lived them. I created them, rewrote them, went back to scenes and rewrote them. Once a "story" was perfected, I went on to a new story. I called myself an incurable daydreamer. It wasn't until I was in my 40's and had already sold my first book that I discovered that my daydreaming was actually storytelling! All the elements we writer require in our books were in my dream worlds.

Does all that sound like a writer? Yep. So this little story starts when I was married with two young children in the late 80's. My current passion during that time was Native American Historical genre. I consumed these books about strong heroines and handsome warriors like an ocean swallowing a beach! One day, in my typical "daydreaming" or "story creation mode", I came up with a heroine who meets a young, virile hero at stream. Hero was Native American and this "story" kept intruding on my thoughts--more so than normal.
I could see these two characters so clearly: she was running away from an evil uncle, and my hero was a troubled young warrior. Before I knew it I had a nice little scene going of these two people so in love and so right for each other. And so insistent that I do something I’d never done before: take them out of my head and give them life on paper (good thing I had a computer by this time). Okay, I thought. I’ll write a nice, steamy love scene. I could see it, feel it, so no problem, right?

Wrong! Before I could write about these two people, I had to know more about them.

• Why was my heroine alone in the wilderness?
• Why was she fleeing her uncle? What did he want and how bad did he want it?
• What troubled my warrior and why was he in the same vicinity as my heroine?
• Why was he drawn to my heroine aside from her blonde hair? Why her and only her?
• Was he willing to risk it all for her?

Before I knew it, I had back story, and four chapters! Several people read it and told me I had to finish the story. The rest they say is history! The writer within was born!

I choose this topic for my first blog here at Romancing the Past because I never, ever considered writing to be a hidden talent. I figure my old English teachers if they ever found out had to have been shocked to their core! It was only when I listened to that inner voice telling me to step out of my comfort zone that I made an amazing discover about myself.

The path from that first time of committing a story to paper has not been easy. It took 7 years of writing and rewriting and learning the craft of writing and submitting and rejections before an editor asked for a full manuscript. Add another year before I had my first offer, then yet another year before that first book, White Wind was on the bookshelves in 1996. Nine years total!

15 years later and once again I’m anticipating seeing my first book hit the shelves with a new cover in its new digital format with Carina Press. The excitement and anticipation is the same, as is the worry–will readers like my baby! Some things do not change!

So in retelling this story, it is my hope that someone reading this makes a self-discover of their own. Are you harboring a writer within? If so, what are you doing about it? I’d love to hear your "writer within" stories.

Coming November 2011, look for White Dawn, White Dusk, White Shadows and White Wind. Check out my website at http://susanedwards.com for updated news and excerpts along with a member only area for my readers. You can also sign up for my newsletter. Note: New covers should be available for view during August!

Original White Covers

BEGINNINGS

This is a topic that has been on my mind for a while. Mainly, because I am facing new beginnings. First, let’s talk about beginnings. How many of us really think about this and the effect it has on our lives. Let's list the obvious beginnings:
▸ Birth. I did say obvious
▸ First day of school
▸ First job
▸ First day of college
▸ First career
▸ Marriage (or equivalent)
▸ Birth of a child.

And here the cycle repeats within our lives as we watch each of our children go through those very same beginnings and more. Then there are the dreaded or much awaited years of the empty nest. Which is of course, another beginning as we face another change in our lives.

Then there are beginnings that we don’t really choose. Loss of job, death, divorce, etc. These are the result of life, fate, circumstances, whatever you choose to call it. This is where I am now in my cycle of life. I published my first books starting in 1996, which was a very exciting beginning for me, something I am reminded of by the many new authors on a list that I am part of who are so excited over their first sales and first covers of their soon-to-be-published books. Yep, nothing like that very special beginning and I remember my 'firsts', especially now, as I am about to relive many of those with new covers for my books.

You see, my life took a different route for many years while building my writing career. My mother was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer and needed to come live with me and my husband. Life changed for me as I was faced with the beginning of taking care of a parent. There were choices to be made and priorities to be adjusted.

Whatever it took to keep my mother interested in life became a priority as I opened a shop in order to have access to cross stitch patterns and supplies which helped keep her going.  And talk about strange acts of fates, when she switched to knitting, the economy forced me to close my shop.  Something I just  now realized!  I guess I no longer needed to have my shop though that was a painful ending!

Back to my mom.  I’m so proud to say that she beat this difficult cancer. Six months has become seven and we have entered our eighth year. By the way, our relationship as mature adults living under the same roof was another beginning . 

So, now that the stress of that time of my life is over (yes, there is a blog to be had there) I find myself starting over, facing new beginnings as I jump back into the writing life.

To that end, my agent sold my back list of titles which had all gone out of print so now I’ve begun a new beginning as a Carina Press author. My books will be rereleased in E-Format starting November 21st 2011. Now,after twelve books, this should be old hat for me, but that would be too easy!

So yes, you've guessed it, another beginning has dropped into my life: that of figuring out the E-pub industry, the promotion that will be the most effective and creating an online presence through Twitter, Face book, and yep, blogging. I'm being dragged into a whole new world.

So with all this said, what do I think of beginnings? Are they hard work? Is there pain? Are they necessary or a necessary evil?

First, let me say that I love beginnings. You should see all the knitting and cross stitch projects I have in progress, not to mention a partially painted kitchen . I love the feeling that comes with birth, taking something like a pattern, yarn and needles and putting them together and watching it take shape and become something (yes, I do finish projects for all you who are shuddering). There is just something invigorating about this process, which is really about change (see my first blog).
 
We all feel this, just think about Spring and the new life that unfolds after a long winter. Beginnings give hope. After all, if I had nothing new to look forward too, nothing new to learn, what would be the point in living? I’m looking at that big neon arrow that is pointing me in my new direction.

Beginning can and do mean hard work, and unfortunately, there can be pain but if growth is the outcome, and if we tweak our attitude and embrace beginnings, then our lives will be rich and fulfilling. At least I hope so.  

So what do you think? Are you experiencing change? Is it necessary or a necessary evil.

Susan Edwards
Magic, Myth & Wonder
Http://susanedwards.com
White Series/SpiritWalker Series
White Dawn~White Dusk
White Shadows~White Wind
Nov. 2011 Carina Press-Digital Format