Mother's Day

I haven't kept it a secret, but not all of you may know that I have no living parents. They both died fairly young, especially for this day and age, and so every holiday I get these wonderful reminders.

I don't hold anyone to blame for the heartbreak these holidays bring: no one sets out to make a Mother's Day commercial with the intent of upset all the people without mothers. Still, it's not a fun time of year for me. Or Father's Day. Or Thanksgiving. Or Christmas. Or any holiday I have memories of returning home for. But I can certainly appreciate the sentiment. I loved my mother with all my heart and she was my biggest fan. I wrote all kind of stuff that never quite got finished and she ate it up. Not just with the biased sincerity of a mother looking at her child's art, but with the ferocity of a rabid fan waiting hungrily for more content.

It was always encouraging to hear her thoughts on my work, her impressions of my characters, and her predictions for the plot. I must've brought her a dozen or more different stories, but one story stopped her. She read my writing and told me to stop everything else I was messing around with. To focus on this ONE story because it was the best and knew it could go far. If you've ever seen any sappy after-school / holiday special, I'm sure you can guess which story it was. Yeah, no curve balls here. It's The Paladin. 

So with this last edit over and my focus now and inching closer to publication, I take time today to rededicate myself to my work, to my dreams, and to making sure that her favorite story becomes a real, honest to god book. Mom. The Paladin is for you.

Be Excellent to Each Other.