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Add this to the list of crazy experiences since lo

Add this to the list of crazy experiences since losing my job last year: finding my books in the wild when I didn’t make it happen myself. As an indie author, it’s all on me (except for the amazing help of my talented editor/designer and audiobook narrator). Well, my sweet friends ordered copies to leave at a popular local coffee shop to help with marketing. I’ve been meaning to do it but have been too scared to. 🤪 If I can offer one piece of advice to fellow indie authors — find friends who believe in you more than you believe in yourself. 😭😭😭

::attends first book signing. has to borrow pen::

::attends first book signing. has to borrow pen::
Last year, in the frenzy of everything, @bookish_retreats invited me to be a signing author at a book ball in spring of 2024. Without thinking about a single logistic, I RSVP'd yes then spent the next six months convincing myself that I'd bail. I'd never done an event before. I'd never signed books in person before. I'd never traveled on an airplane with inventory before. AND IT WAS ALL FREAKING SCARY, OK?
But before I knew it, I'd bought the tickets, secured the hotel and was boarding the plane. I couldn't let myself think too much about it or I would have absolutely bailed.
And I'm so glad I didn't.
Shortly after getting home, I saw a TikTok where a girl shared that when you've already excitedly committed to going to something but then start feel an overwhelming sense of fear and doubt that's convincing you to bail, ABSOLUTELY GO. That mean God has something amazing in store for you and the enemy is trying to keep you from it.
And dang it if I didn't learn that to be true.
**Special shout out to @dkmarieauthor for lending me a pen 😅**

I didn't know how to get here. Actually, that's n

I didn't know how to get here.
Actually, that's not entirely true. I'm a researcher. I don't like to be caught off guard, so I arm myself with information. But I've also been riddled with insecurity and doubt my entire life. That's funny because the most obvious theme from both books is discovering and stepping into your own confidence.
But for some reason, I just couldn't get myself there.
I get asked a lot about how I found the courage to write. That was the easy part. That part you do alone. For "Yeah, maybe," it was just me in the attic of my parents' house sitting un-showered in a hand-me-down blue velvet recliner chair. I wrote on Sundays because I worked every other day of the week.
It's the putting it out there that's scary. And that's the part I've always struggled with. For me, there came a point where the fear of what would happen if I DIDN'T overrode that general run-of-the-mill fear that'd been hanging around for nearly a decade. But that was a totally unusual situation, I realize that. But it's the truthful answer to that question.
I had no idea what was in store when I published my first book. For 9 years, I'd sold just over 100 copies. In. 9. Years.
I could have looked at that like a failure, but I was just glad to have done it. I had fun writing it. That was enough.
To me, that also wasn't a failure because I didn't do anything to sell books beyond the first week. And I think that's the camp a lot of us hang out in -- if I don't do anything and it "fails," well, it's not a failure. Right?
Obviously, I had no clue that 9 years later, that thing I'd done for fun, the book I'd written mostly for the 16 year old girl inside of me who still felt a little lost, would swoop in and save me and my family.
The point? Do it. Whatever it is, do it because you want to. Do it because you enjoy it. Do it because you enjoy the challenge.
You never know how that thing will serve you down the road.
Trust the call. Lean into your passion. JUMP.

A different kind of love story… Annie and Lauri

A different kind of love story…
Annie and Laurie have been inseparable since childhood, their differences only strengthening their bond. But as they start high school, their first time attending the same school, their friendship faces unprecedented challenges. Through Annie's eyes, we navigate a tumultuous year of new friend groups, budding romances, and family drama. Will their lifelong connection withstand the pressures of high school, or will it unravel amidst the chaos? Dive into this compelling tale of loyalty, growth, and the true test of friendship.
#bookstagram #bingeablebooks #youngadultbooksgram #bookreview

This is Clay. He’s my best friend’s brother — but in the last 20 years, he has also become my little brother. I’ve never (and I mean never) known someone to remain so positive and so full of hope and faith in the face of being dealt a truly unfair hand. For 17 years, he lived normally. Fully able bodied, enjoying life the way boys do. And for another 17, he was trapped in a body that was failing him. And in the midst, still, a light. A source of comfort and hope. I had the pleasure to learn a lot from him for 20 years. And I will spend the rest of my life missing him.
He ran into the arms of Jesus. He is free. 💕
“There is nothing that can replace the absence of someone dear to us, and one should not even attempt to do so. One must simply hold out and endure it. At first that sounds very hard, but at the same time it is also a great comfort. For to the extent the emptiness truly remains unfilled one remains connected to the other person through it. It is wrong to say that God fills the emptiness. God in no way fills it but much more leaves it precisely unfilled and thus helps us preserve — even in pain — the authentic relationship. Further more, the more beautiful and full the remembrances, the more difficult the separation. But gratitude transforms the torment of memory into silent joy. One bears what was lovely in the past not as a thorn but as a precious gift deep within, a hidden treasure of which one can always be certain.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

A little daily life: Just a boy and his #cat. 🐱

A little daily life: Just a boy and his #cat. 🐱 #catsofinstagram #funnycats #funnytoddlers #momsofinstagram #joyfulwithjo

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