For the first time in a while, I took a look at my sales numbers. They say ignorance is bliss. They were right! Oy vey!
As many of you know, my life, and the lives of my family, have been upended. As the saying goes, someone upset the apple cart. Frankly, I think they dumped the apples out of the cart, ran it over, and started throwing the apples at me. My last two posts here were about my wonderful grandmother, Edna, who passed away January 29th, and the unexpected death of the rock of our family, my father, Jim, on February 4th.
Needless to say, thoughts of writing were pushed far away from the front of my mind. After Dad’s death, I took on a new challenge: continuing some of his ministry. For years, he sent out a weekly epistle (devotional) to hundreds of people. After talking to my mother, we felt this was something that we had to make sure continued.
Hence my unique position. Being a Methodist minister’s daughter, I always felt like everyone expected me to wear my faith like a badge, out there for the world to see, no questions asked. But I’ve never been that way. My faith in God has always been something that was personal and private. I’ve never shoved it in anyone’s face and said, “You have to believe the way I believe, or you’re going to hell in a handbasket!” Faith is something that is between you and God. And if you don’t believe, that’s fine, too. I’m not going to show up at your house and try to convert you, I promise.
But, in a way, I have become a rock for not only my mother, my son, and the rest of my family, but a small rock in the foundation of so many other people’s lives through their journeys of faith. It’s a very odd feeling for me, and a very odd position to find myself in. I am now trying to learn to balance the writing part of my life and this new part of my life.
Does this mean I’m going to start talking fire and brimstone from now on? No. In a way, I want to apologize to all of you, my readers, for I have been neglecting you the last month and a half. Not intentionally. I do want to thank all of you who have sent me words of encouragement and support. They mean a great deal to me, and I have shared them with my mother and son, who have also found comfort in your words and prayers. I guess I’m asking you all to be a little more patient and understanding as I try to find “the new normal”, as we now say in our family, of my life. There is a lot of adjusting, balancing and planning going on behind the scenes as I try to figure things out.
I do have plans for books this year. I’m still trying to finish up “Death Vetoes the Chairman”, and then I will be doing a new Ghost Writer mystery, featuring the characters of Grandma Alma (my grandmother) and Jim (my dad). I’m pretty sure that Grandma Alma is going to get Jim into a TON of trouble, and cause him a LOT of grief, pretty much like Grandma did to Dad, but always with love and laughter.
So, hang in there. More stories are coming. Make sure you read Death Takes the Blue Ribbon before the new Lizzie story comes out, so you know about the changes that have happened in town. And thank you all so much for all your support. It means more to me right now than you could possibly know.
Grace and peace,
Teresa
Author Teresa Watson 