...and then this happened.

We writers can easily fall into a funk. I'm not talking about writer's block. I'm talking about that questioning of why we do what we do. Book sales rise and fall and, when they fall, it's easy to begin to question the time and effort and the expense put into producing a book. When everything is quiet, sales are slow, no reviews are coming in, it's a challenge not to just put the laptop away and do something else. Of course, most of us can't do that. It would be like holding our breath until we pass out. I had a weekend of such questioning and decided I needed to call a family meeting. So I got us all together to remind myself of why I do what I do. Why do I invest so much time and energy and my own resources into putting out books? I looked at my website. My branding says, Writing for Women: Stories of strength, love, humor and hope. 

Well, there it is--why I write. Other than the fact that it's a passion that gives me much more than it demands. I write to give people hope. To bring a smile to someone. To make my readers feel--happy, sad, hopeful, not so much alone. I write to entertain. I write because--for as demanding and challenging as it can be--writing is a passion that is a constant for me. I sat down and began to browse through my books and then this happened:

Here we are at the family meeting. I'm so proud of all my children. And, yes, they did a great job of reminding why I write.