An Introduction

One summer, my friend Beth and I got to be the first readers for a novel written by a real live author. The author also happened to be the woman whose fingers created the clack of the typewriter in the home office next to the rooms where I played. While I watched Jem and the Holograms, Mom became a writer.

I used to think Mom had instilled in my siblings and I an almost-ridiculous belief in our own possibilities because we might actually be more special than the average bear. Now I realize it was because she is. No matter what you want to do, no matter what anyone has accomplished, it had to at least begin with the belief that they could.

The belief doesn't get you there, I can flat OUT promise you that. But it gets you started and it keeps you going and it's much better company than fear.

In a few short months, the mama will unleash on the world all. of. that. Her debut novel, Thirty Days to Glory, will be released just in time for our mutually beloved fall and holiday season. In preparation, her publisher has gently pushed and prodded Mom out from behind the clacking keys. She's got speaking engagements, press releases, and a blog tour. It's already started (you can find one here about facing editors and eating tomatoes). But in two short days, in time for a little thing you might call the anniversary of me, she's bringing it here. And since the guest post she's writing does not in itself tell you to go check out her book, I thought I would set the stage myself and shoo you in the right direction.Thirty Days to Glory, coming soon. The Mama, coming Wednesday.