Mike's January Letter
Hello all! I know we were supposed to stop writing these letters in the fall, but I cannot bear to let you faithful readers out there think that we don't care about you. We do care, immensely. I especially care about those of you who purchased Stone Season, thank you!
As I gaze out at the snow sparkling outside my childhood home, I can't help but compare this day to January 1st one year ago. We had just narrowly escaped the burning blaze that engulfed our home and our lives. I was so fortunate to grab my computer, without which my life means nothing. My mother was so good to allow us all to cram into this tiny house. Not like Dee's mom, who's first response was to replace all our belongings. Why would we want that when all of Mom's things were just as good, especially once shaved? Elizabeth and April won't want them, they can get household items and eventually houses from Anthony and Gerald's moms one of these days.
So many changes over this past year for my family. Stone Season continues to climb to the top of every best seller list. Every time the phone rings I think it might be Oprah telling me to come on her show! Hasn't happened yet, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time. I'm glad I quit my job at portrait. Sometimes you just have to listen to the little voice that comes out of nowhere and tells you do do things spur-of-the-moment. I used to call that voice Ned until he was flushed into oblivion. Since he came back, though, I noticed that the voice is a little garbled, but it still gives good advice.
It was so hard dealing with my book editor, who always wanted to correct my grammar. I keep telling him it's about VOICE, about Sheleigh's voice coming through in the story! I finally won that argument and boy did it pay off! Stone Season runs through Lilliputs like water through a sieve. I read chapter one to a group of children the other day and they were so enthralled! They listened so intently that their eyes became unfocused and even closed! What I like best is signing the books. Whenever I mess up a signature, I tell them that I'm writing as Sheleigh would have. People smile as though they understand, but really, they can't. The only one who can is Mom and Weed. Oh, and Deanna, my muse. I make sure to come out of my writing for at least five minutes every day to ask her how things are going.
Every once in a while I spend time with the children to get an idea what Sheleigh must go through. Just taking them to see Santa is an ordeal! How Sheleigh must have suffered, having a husband who didn't help her with her children! I can only imagine her ordeals because I am so deeply in tune with her character. A little bit of Mom, Mrs. Dingle, and Lovey Saltzman; all the women who had a deep impact on my life and lived through so much. I would include Deanna, but she's never experienced true hardship. I heard that they even had cots when she was in South America.
We held Christmas at our place. I thought that Mom might have some issues with that, but the gravitational pull of our traditional home cannot be denied. So we crowded here with all of the family. I'm so glad that Liz seems to have come to her senses and settled for Anthony. Childhood sweethearts really are the best! For a while I thought that I'd found my true love at college, but that was just a passing fling.
Grandpa came for a short time, which was better for us and for him. I kept him here long enough to show him the sales reports for Stone Season, then we let him go home with Iris. I'm so glad that he has someone like Iris in his life; I can only hope that Dee will be around me when I get to that stage of life. If she isn't, I'm sure Meredith and Robin will take me in.
Ta-ta for now, gentle readers! May your new year be free from stones!