Monday, May 8, 2017

And the Winner Is ...

There's nothing quite like celebrating life's milestones to make you feel grateful. My husband marked a big birthday this weekend. The family gathered. We shared a couple of good meals. Some stories. Some laughs. Getting together is always nice, but something about birthdays, maybe it's putting a number on things, always makes me feel grateful for all the years we've had together. Oh, and there was cake: my husband's favorite black forest cake. By the time I thought about taking a picture to include in this post, we had already enjoyed it. But believe me, it was a thing of beauty. (I'm not bragging. I didn't make it. I happily gave that up several years ago when we found a bakery version that we loved just as much.)

When I was part of  a local writing group, we became quite good at celebrating. It was a great group of people who genuinely encouraged one another through the lows and cheered each other on through the highs. After that group broke up, a friend and I would mark triumphs on our writing journey with a version of Julia Cameron's Artist Dates, by visiting local galleries, doing something to enrich our creative souls.

I'm so thankful to be part of such a wonderful online group. I treasure each of my critique partners. And so I was thrilled that so many stopped by the blog here to help celebrate the release of Patricia Bailey's middle-grade debut, The Tragically True Adventures of Kit Donovan. Many thanks to all who commented. And the winner of a signed ARC is ... Mirka Breen!

Congratulations, Mirka! I know you'll love it.


What have you celebrated lately? Do you do something to mark the steps in your writing journey?

13 comments:

  1. Glad you had fun celebrating your husband's birthday. We celebrated my boyfriend's on Friday. The first we celebrated together. It was special.

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  2. Yay, Mirka! And happy birthday to your husband, Ruth. (I wish we were neighbors so we could do Artist Dates together!)

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  3. Happiest way to start a week! This book is already my cup of tea, judging by the cover and title.
    Grateful to you both, Ruth & Patricia, for making me aware of it.

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  4. Congratulations to Mirka!
    Several of my family members have birthdays in May, so there will be a lot of cake in our house this month too, Ruth.:-)

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  5. Happy birthday to your husband. We celebrated moving into our house recently.

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  6. It's so important to take time out of work and worries to appreciate the life you have and the people you share it with. I'm glad your CP group are so helpful and supportive. I would be nowhere without mine. Congrats to Mirka and wishing Patricia much success on her adorable MG book!

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  7. Happy b'day to your husband!

    I wish I had a good CP group, but I guess you actually have to make an effort to find one before you get one, right? :P I need to work on that!

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  8. Congrats to Mirka! Glad you had a nice celebration with family. The cake sounds wonderful. :) We just had a dinner last night with our kids and my mother in law. Kind of a family night/Mother's Day thing- it was nice. Grateful that all our kids, daughter in law, and grandsons live nearby. Happy weekend!

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  9. Congratulations, Mirka!

    Glad you had such a great time celebrating your husband's birthday. It sounds like it was a blast. Always nice to get together and celebrate. I haven't celebrated anything recently (my mom was away for Mother's Day)- although I did get together with my mom almost a month ago to celebrate my birthday (belated) and that was lots of fun. We spent time at the beach- and even though it was still cool out, it was rejuvenating. :)
    ~Jess

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  10. "Something to mark the steps in my writing journey?" Hmm ... How about saying (in my head anyway) "Whew! I can't believe I managed to pull it off one more time!" every time I get a new gig? :D

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  11. Ruth, I rarely make a fancy cake anymore. It amazes me how easy it's become for me to not offer to make the cake for various events! I've given away a lot of my cake decorating equipment, and the rest just languishes in the cupboard, waiting for the next time I'm in the mood!

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  12. Stopping by to say hello. Hope all is well. Have a Happy Thanksgiving! :)

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  13. Ruth, just checking back for an update. Hope you and yours are well and that we'll be hearing from you soon!

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