A dream come true... partly!

One year ago, I caught a bus to a local press just off Whyte Avenue and dropped off the manuscript for the novel that had taken me 10 years to write and have edited by a dear friend. After so much effort and previous rejection, I wasn't going to let my manuscript sit for months in just anyone's slush pile, so I chose my publisher very carefully. Seven months later, I received another rejection letter, so I sort of shelved the project because I was too busy with other writing at the time to give it much more thought.

But on Christmas Eve, I opened an envelope announcing a "very special gift opening" during which my novel would be launched -- "Go check the bookshelf, Mom." I was crying tears of joy before I even had my book -- MY BOOK!!! -- in my hands!

But for my sneaky family, who knows how long my little project would have stayed on the shelf. In December, my daughter attended a free session at the Edmonton Public Library where she learned about a new book printing machine there. She and my hubby came up with a secret plan to publish two copies of my book, raiding my computer for the necessary files to do a pretty darn great job of making a book.

Seeing these two hard copies has me thinking and dreaming once again about how to get my story into the hands of the public where it can actually touch some hearts and do some good. Many thanks to the amazing people in my life for helping my dream toward reality!

Watch this space for more news on a future, full-sized, public book/e-book launch...