Ta-dah!

Let me introduce you to my bouncing, perfect-bound, bundle of joy… "On the Bright Side… and other rose-coloured catastrophes."

For those of you who are metaphorically-challenged or don’t have a clue what I’m talking about, I’ll say it slowly and in plain English: my…book…is…done! Hot off the press! On sale now! Read all about it! It’s enough to send this author/publisher over the proverbial, style-guide-touting edge.

Okay, so maybe I’m being a bit dramatic. (And I’ve changed, how?) But this has been a labour of love: labour being the operative word, of course. Anyone who’s ever given birth will get me on this… have you ever tried to push a 5 ¾” by 8 ¾” creation through a circle of uncertainty that’s only two inches wide? Exactly. It’s not as easy as it looks!

Birthing this book has been an exercise in patience, self-reflection, self-doubt, vulnerability, surrender, and pure, unadulterated panic. You can ask my husband. Heck, just the other day he caught me bearing down, doing my Lamaze breathing with my feet up on the desk.

“Just let it go, hun,” he said, “you’ve got to let this baby fly.”

And I, like any labouring mother would do, grit my teeth, growled like a possessed person, and screamed, “Don’t you dare tell me to let go can’t you see that you did this to me!”

“Ahuh.”

Logic aside, can you not see the parallels?

Anyways, it’s been an interesting journey. I’ve been writing a column for four years and have enjoyed every minute of it. That part’s been easy. Compiling a book and publishing it myself (copy edit, layout, design, everything) took balls I never knew I had. It also took a tremendous amount of support from friends and family who believed in me when I didn’t, who encouraged me when I didn’t, and who turned a blind eye when I opened that third bottle of wine. That’s the kind of support system every writer needs to have.

That being said, and now that the book’s bright and shiny pages are pulled out into the light, I really can feel nothing but pride. Ever since I was a child, I vowed to publish a book by the age of forty. Considering I’m in my fortieth year, I think that counts for something. Fortunately, the pre-birthing jitters can’t destroy thirty years of conscious visualization and positive thinking!

The other thing I am most proud of is one dollar of every book sold will be donated to Mercy House: a charitable organization that helps young women in crisis. Plans are underway to build the first house in Canada down on the lower mainland. (There are already homes in the US, Britain, and Australia.) This was a cause that so spoke to my heart. I have been a young woman in crisis, and any opportunity to extend transformational hope to someone lost in life is worth embracing. I hope you will join me in supporting this movement of love and healing. I promise you, it will come back tenfold.

To find out more and purchase copies (great Mother’s Day gift idea!), please visit my website at www.redwagonservices.com or if you want to save on shipping and meet me in person (that would be cool!), then come see me at the Kelowna Farmer’s Market on Wednesdays or Saturdays between April 26th and May 10th. (Farmer’s Market is on the corner of Springfield and Dilworth and runs 8am-1pm.) I look forward to meeting you!

"On the Bright Side… and other rose-coloured catastrophes" is my gift to you. These are the stories that you, my readers, have expressed your joy and gratitude in reading. I hope they will further enlighten and brighten your days, and I hope they will be the impetus for a happier, healthier you! If so, then pass the word on!