...is what my wrist says now, and it is what I need reminded of daily....sometimes more than once a day.

There are so many things to believe in really. To be happy and succeed, one must believe in their abilities and all that jazz. When things go poorly, one must believe that things will improve; that they HAVE to. Believing in the good of mankind is also a must. People are inherently good, their circumstances and environment turning things sour. Bad tends to snowball. So does good. 

I also believe in the power of positive thought, and the power of sheer willpower. 

If you stop believing in the good, you stop getting it. Now I can look down at my arm and remember this. 

Considering I attempted suicide 11 years ago, and have since stopped therapy and medication...and have not wanted to harm myself for over 6 years now...I think I am doing really damn good with believing in myself. 

Don't ever lose hope. I know that is easier said than done, but life WILL improve. It simply has to. 

While I don't exactly have time to write a full blog, I do want to share with the world that HerStory: Fiction Honoring Women's History Month was released for the public to buy earlier today!!! I have two stories within the book myself titled Please Stay and Your Honor, May I? The latter being very close to my heart and dedicated to my great grandmothers, may they rest in peace. 

On Amazon
Smashwords
Barnes & Nobel

You can buy the book at any of the links listed above. This has to be one of the BEST birthday gifts ever!! This now published writer just turned 31 years young yesterday. Between the day itself and the release of HerStory, this birthday has officially gone down in my book as the most memorable and exciting one yet. 

Please enjoy the book!! There were 26 other writers who did an amazing job putting this book together! Buy it to support them if not me. 

Tara & Angie did an amazing job on everything as well...and once I have a proper time to write a more OFFICIAL blog post, I will name more women involved who are very deserving of the credit. 

Also for full details on the giveaways, check out HerStory Blog.

On January 11th in the morning, I hit the button on my smart phone to sync my email. After just a few short moments, I hear the "Utini" that alerts me of a new email. I check it, and one of my dearest friends had sent me an email that included this link:

http://herstoryanthology.blogspot.com/2013/01/strength-comes-in-many-forms.html

After reading the blog post calling to writers for their short stories, I knew I had to write a piece for the project. How could I not? This topic screamed at me with inspiration. My original idea was to write a piece based in Renaissance Scotland.

After a death in my family, my desire to write something a bit different came about. There are some who know the context of my new story, but not everyone. I am going to wait and let people read it for themselves.

I submitted the 2,052 word story to the editor today around 6pm Central time and awaited the answer nervously. I was talking to a friend about it via text around 9:30pm when my email refreshed and there it was: the acceptance email. I nearly hyperventilated in my excitement and awe. I was ACCEPTED!!! Me! Something I wrote was accepted for the project, and I was amazed. I was crying happy tears when I called the friend who originally sent me the link.

My mother was called, my best friends were called, and even friends I hadn't spoken to in years. This really is some of the best news of my life. Now...to calm down and wait for the edits to come back and contracts to be drawn up for publishing. After this whole thing is finished, I can really call myself a professional, published writer.