So Much Joy and Pain

I've been a little reluctant to write a new blog lately, if you haven't noticed. I love looking at that box of books, ARCs or not, though life has been full of many adventures the past four weeks.

First, the pain: Think back to three days before Christmas. The snow had just started to fall and the air was brisk, the feel of Christmas in the air. I had made plans to take my kids to visit my friend Elizabeth a couple of hours north of me. The car was packed and warming up when the neighbor stopped by looking for something I was going to loan her. I walked very carefully down the steps (I'd already fallen once that morning), commented to my neighbor about how careful I was being, then when I hit the flat part of the walk my feet started to slide. I tried to lock them in place so I wouldn't fall, but my legs scissored and I went down, my ankle and foot popping twice.

As I lay there crying in pain, my neighbor ran to get my husband and the two of them got me into the house. At that point I realized this was serious and asked them to get me back out to the car. I needed to go to Urgent Care. After much maneuvering and sending my sweet boys over to my friend Shari's house to see if she could watch them while I went in for x-rays, we were on the way.

To make a long story short. Well . . . shorter, they x-rayed my ankle and pronounced it a really bad sprain, basically saying that the pops I felt were my ankle dislocating, then popping back into place. They gave me a brace and sent me home, my plans for the day dashed to pieces.

I wore that brace for 3 weeks and was still in pain. I felt things moving that shouldn't be and went back in to Urgent Care and asked them to re-examine my foot. This time around they actually x-rayed my foot as well as my ankle, gave me a new brace (since I'd broken the last one twice), and told me they would have the radiologist look at it and call me if there was anything wrong.

So, off I went on Thursday night for Author Training with Valor Publishing Group, spending the night at my friend's house. The training was phenomenal. We even got to go on a tour of the printer who does their ARCs and small softbound print runs. It was fascinating. Well, that afternoon, I got a call from Urgent Care telling me my foot was fractured and I needed to come in to have it splinted. My kind friend Candace and her husband drove me and my car the 60 miles home, dropped off the car, went to Urgent Care, had a different splint put on, then drove me back to their place for the next day's author training. This time Urgent Care said not to put ANY pressure on my foot. After three weeks of walking around with crutches and a splint, but WALKING, they tell me not to use it at all? That particular bandage hurt BAD. Didn't like it at all.

Monday morning I call a podiatrist and get in the next day. They say, yes, I had a fracture, but it's healing perfectly. The main thing I had was a "really GREAT sprained ankle." So they put me in a big, black boot, which I adore and have already broken one of the straps. What can I say. I like it tight. I'm healing. The nurse said by the time my tour comes around I should be running, but just to be sure, my husband is insisting on physical therapy as soon as possible.

Second, the Joys: Author training was two of the most amazing days I've had in a long time. I have a much greater understanding of the publishing industry and how to be the best author I can be. I can't go into details, as it's proprietary information, but it was fantastic. Any author who publishes with Valor is very, very blessed. My fellow classmates were awesome. There was Tristi Pinkston, Valor's Editor, who helped teach. Candace Salima, of course, president of Valor. BJ Rowley, who handles the typesetting and knows just about everything under the sun. Other members of Valor's staff as well, and my fellow writers. Michelle Ashman Bell, Abel Keough, Daron Fraley, and Jenni James. Wow, it was awesome. Hope I didn't forget anyone.

I am getting some good reviews as well, which is nice. I was interviewed for an article in the local newspaper. That was an experience. Very exciting, but I'm seeing that I need to work on my interviewing skills. lol If you want to read it, go HERE.

My book became available for pre-order on January 15th, so put your order in early! Go HERE to reserve your copy.

I'll continue the joys tomorrow. Life has been full of ups and downs for a few months now and it finally feels like it's coming together.