Daily Courage

When I was a young girl, my family moved from Iowa to Old Saybrook, CT where my parents rented a seaside cottage while building a house in Guilford, CT. This week my father, mother-in-love (that’s what I call his wife Marge because calling her “my Dad’s wife” sounds distant), my brother, his wife and six children, along with my husband and daughter spent a week along the Connecticut shoreline. We have all been settled in California for many years. The occasion was a celebration trip of my father’s 80th and brother’s 50th birthdays.  The idea was to unplug, revisit happy haunts and memories, and to enjoy each other’s company. We rented a rambling colonial seated in the woods in Old Lyme, and accomplished exactly what we set out to do.  While my computer came along, I resisted to temptation to pack knitting, sewing and craft projects, and opted to commit to staying in the present and enjoying my nieces and nephew. But that didn’t mean that the creativity monitor slowed down. In fact, it probably woke up.  We stopped for lunch in the small marina in Old Saybrook, and this is what was out the window. The casual happenstance of a salty green piling next to one of faded whitewash with a red top, struck me as a wonderfully creative mix in an unexpected spot.

Sterling booth at BEA

No one knew what to expect at BEA in New York City this time around. The bloodletting has been long and deep in the book industry. Reading the daily publishing trades has been more like being immersed in endless obituary pages of late. So, it was with a slightly faint heart that we set out for Book Expo this year. 

We were thrilled to see that our latest project, “Blogging for Bliss” by Tara Frey for Lark Books/Sterling had perfect placement in the Sterling booth. We are optimistic about this one in particular. We believe in the importance of creativity, especially in trying times. Spread the word, positive attitudes and creative pursuits trump negativity and pessimism every time. We hope you’ll try blogging for your own bliss.