A few days ago, the UPS delivery truck pulled up in front of our house, the driver zipped up to the front porch and dropped a box of books. Inside were ten copies of the newest Chicken Soup book that has one of my stories in it. I had Ken take a picture of me holding the book, a bit blurry but it's me and the book--my 15th story in a Chicken Soup for the Soul book.
The book is titled Reboot Your Life and my story is "Forgiveness and Freedom" which is in a section called Adjust Your Attitude. I'm delighted to have the story published but it got there in a roundabout way.
I had a vivid dream one night about my father, who had died many years earlier. In the dream, Dad said something to me that struck a nerve. I couldn't forget about it for days. When I finally faced the situation and made a decision, I did have a new way of looking at some long-festering feelings. And I knew that my life would be better for it.
Later, I wrote the story and submitted it for consideration in a Chicken Soup book on Forgiveness. The story would be perfect for this particular book. Or so I thought. Silly me! Imagine my surprise when I received a notice that my story had made the final cut in the Reboot Your Life book. What?
Apparently, someone read my story when they were reading for the Forgiveness book and decided it would work well in the other book. So, the story jumped the book lines and landed in one I'd never considered submitting to.
Several years ago, Chicken Soup selected one of my stories for their Christmas stories book. It wasn't one I'd submitted for the book that year. Instead, it was one I'd submitted 2 or more years earlier. They had kept it in their files and ended up using it. You can imagine my surprise when that happened.
These experiences show that Chicken Soup editors will put a story where they think it fits best and they will look back for earlier stories to use much later. I think it's part of what makes this anthology publisher so successful. They work hard to make sure the stories fit the book. It also gives hope to writers to know that, even if their story did not make it right away, it could pop up later. Believe me, when that happens, it's a delightful surprise. I'm guessing it doesn't happen frequently, but it does happen.
Reboot Your Life is to be released September 16th. The retail price in most bookstores is $14.95. You can pre-order on Amazon for a discounted price on the paperback and another special price to purchase it for your Kindle reader. Check it out here. Holiday gift giving season is closer than you think. Need I say more?
Congratulations, Nancy! Your comments remind me of the cliche: "When God closes a door, He opens a window." I'm going straight to Amazon to make an order!
ReplyDelete