Life in the Season of Hope: Part I – Out of the Dark
HAPPY EASTER!
I can’t believe it’s been months since I’ve written.
Not that I’ve run out of words. I have so much to say, but it’s been difficult, trying to get my thoughts into words when I’d been working with words all along. So much has happened in the past few months. Some great, some not so great. But I’m happy to say that I think I’ve emerged from everything intact. I have so many updates!
I know quite a lot of you want to know how it’s been, co-writing a book with someone I’d never met before. Or how the past few months of COVID have been and how we’ve coped. Oh, and what about the life changing move I’ve made in my career. Say what? Yes, but it’s a long story and that will need a separate blog post on its own. The time just isn’t right yet. Out of respect. Or sadness. Loyalty, perhaps. But we will get there. There is such an important message in all this, and I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t convey it. But what I can say today is this – I have spent the past three months on two kinds of interviews. One of them more fun than the other, but all successful and well worth the time and the effort.
Let’s do this in parts.
First things first.
THANK YOU for all the love and support you have shown us for the release of Moments Like This (March 9, 2021). As of today, we are still on the #1 New Release list. Totally unexpected! Who would have known a partnership between a celebrity and a Finance person would work! All we really wanted to do was to share a love story set in a beautiful island. And the fact that we had two print runs means that so many people were able to live in Andie and Warren’s world, even just for a few hours. Writing and collaborating on this book has been a source of joy for me. No matter the crisis or the desolation, writing always wins. You’ve spurred us to start wrapping up Book 2 in the From Kona of Love Series. We will be ready to announce our title soon. Next comes the cover. And in no time, you’ll be reading another beautiful story about love and life in another dreamy Hawaiian location.
Most of you have heard it all – our interviews about how we met, how we collaborated and how we wrote this book. If you haven’t, I have them all posted HERE. What you’ll find in all of them, is a genuine love and respect for this collaboration, and between two strangers who have now become two partners. In every Q&A we’ve had, everyone seemed to be curious about how we made this happen. Kristoffer and I admit that to a certain extent, we’ve taken this process for granted. It was too easy, too seamless. And now that we are more than halfway done with Kona Book 2, I can honestly say that the process remains as easy. Life has managed to insert itself more in this one – kids back at school, family responsibilities, job searches and some disappointments. But the one thing that means most to me these days, is that I have a new friend to share this all with.
For this and many other gifts, I am grateful.
“In this Life, it is only through sadness that one can truly experience joy.” Someone named Anna Dillon once said (okay, so she’s a fictional character, but still, she’s pretty awesome). These past few months have been just that for me.
I woke up this Easter morning with so much hope. Optimism that comes with the courage to change. To leave the status quo behind. To begin a new life – whether writing a book under your real name or leaving a job, a career and your friends after seventeen years. It has taken months to unpack the hurt and disappointment I’ve been through and to recognize the unending love and support I have received from others. But in the spirit of Easter, I have chosen to move on. In many ways, I am starting anew. Refreshed, wiser and with more conviction.
Today, I remember what it’s like to forgive.
That Jesus suffered and died on the cross for our sins.
And that God raised him from the dead in the name of hope and absolution.
No matter what happens from here, there is no way to move but forward. To put one foot in front of the other and carry on. To revel in the gifts of the universe, to live each day in deep, deep gratitude. To find the tiny treasures that exist in every minute of every day. And already, I’ve committed to so many new projects. We just started this journey together. Stick around, there is more to come.
And remember – (thank you, Florence) – it’s always darkest before the dawn.