• Merriam-Webster definition:   
  
  

Definition of fickle
: marked by lack of steadfastness, constancy, or stability: given to erratic changeableness
 
Three days ago I received an email from one of my long time friends and writing instructor she had received an email from another mutual friend.  My dear friend and author Marshall Cook and his wife Ellen were driving to the State of Washington for a vacation to visit family.  Somewhere in South Dakota they were involved in a terrifying car accident.  Ellen received face lacerations and may need eye surgery.  Marshall has several broken ribs and was unconscious when taken to the hospital.

When events like these occur I don’t find myself asking how it happened.  It doesn’t matter how it happened, the outcome is the same.  I don’t know how this will affect their health and lives but it is tragic.

The truth is when you get up in the morning you have no idea if you will be able to lay your head down safely in your own bed at night.  When I was younger I would respond with anger to events like this.  I don’t know why.  I am now beyond the age of anger.

My feeling now is more of awe.  In an instant an event could change your life and completely alter the ability to carry on as you have to this point in your life.
​
Knowing this to be a truth alters how I live each and every day. 

Last week I shared my story of having the blues because the folks I chose to receive Advance Reader Copies (ARC) of the third novel in the Irish Troubles Series – Dead Reckoning hadn’t turned in a review in more than two months.
I sent out the reminder emails and that nudge resulted in a trickle of responses – two to be exact.  I had lunch with one of the advance readers and learned there was legitimate confusion.  Because   Dead Reckoning was published on April 6th he thought it was too late to send a review that could be printed on the book cover or inside pages.  He had a legitimate concern.  I should have explained that my publisher planned a future release of the book and the reviews would be included.

The mystery to me was that once the review was written he didn’t consider posting it on Amazon.  Oh well.

I received a review from one of my first writing teachers, coach, and friend Christine DeSmet that took my breath away.  I quote from a portion of her review:
​
“The wisdom and tone—including much humor—in Dead Reckoning place it solidly on the shelf with popular novels such as Plainsong by Kent Haruf, A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, and the entire Mitford series starring Father Tim and written by Jan Karon. I highly recommend Dead Reckoning.”
 
Are you kidding?  Christine compared me to Kent Haruf!  Kent Haruf is one of my favorite authors.  His final novel, Benediction, may be the perfect novel – it is for me.  I was not familiar with the other two authors but researched them and I am among the best and am humbled.
 
What is the best book review you ever received?
 

​I chose twelve people to send an advance reader copy of my latest novel, Dead Reckoning.  I sent them by mail or personally delivered them the week of April 9th.  I checked with my publisher and of the twelve only six had returned comments.  Really? 

I asked my publisher if I should send reminder emails to those holding advance reader copies and she agreed it would be a good idea.  Of the ten emails I sent only three responded.  One said she would read the novel and respond within a week.  One responded “sure” when asked to forward comments to the publisher.  The third said she had a stack of books to read first but had given my book to her husband to read.  Seven readers didn’t reply to my email.

The advance copy readers are all people that I know very well, for years.  I cannot understand why they have been so slow to respond.  I am disappointed.  I have the advance reader copy blues.
​
Have you struggled to get book reviews?

Recently I met a woman musician from Serbia.  She explained that she had few opportunities to pursue her profession in her home country.  She moved to Paris to study music and found few opportunities there too and she felt mistreated.  She wasn’t sure if it was because of her gender or her nationality or both.

She decided to come to the United States and was accepted at the University of Wisconsin Music Department.  Last year she received her doctorate in musical performance.  While studying she became aware of how few compositions performed are from women.

During a lunch with friends she offered a bold idea – let’s organize a festival with all pieces written by women and recruit women to perform as well.  Her friends challenged her to make the dream a reality and recruited one of them to work hand in hand with her.

The festival attracted a woman composer in residence to write a piece to be performed for the first time at the festival.  They also founded an all female treble chorus who made their debut performance at the Festival.  In total 90 women participated in the three day event.

Some of the events were free and others had a small fee.  The grand finale was only $20 a ticket and held at the First Unitarian Church Auditorium.  The audience was appreciative and responded with a standing ovation at the close of the concert.

My new friend had a dream and brought it to fruition in the United States.  My friend is an immigrant and is staying in our country on a green card.  She hopes to become a citizen in five years.  She has already lived here for three years.  Her path to citizenship is long but she clearly has determination.
We need to remember we are a country of immigrants. Even though our country is struggling with unprecedented divisiveness this story demonstrates that the unique American promise is alive and well.
​
On this July 4th I am grateful I can share this story with you.