Destination Thinking or When (Not) to Celebrate
I realize that I hold back a lot. Not out of an attempt to be secretive or keep things to myself. It’s more out of a sense of setting extremely high standards for myself. That part is no secret. I’m really hard on myself, and I think I should be. So many of the stories I read when I was young REALLY stuck with me. They’re still with me more than 30 years later. I think about that all the time when I am writing and putting a book out into the world. The story might only end up in the hands of a few readers, but if sticks with even one reader, it’s possible that it will still be influencing her even after she is grown. That’s a huge responsibility. I take it very seriously, which is a good thing in general, but it has a negative side effect. It puts me in a frame of mind where was I’m usually thinking is X could have been better, or Y would be a more substantial achievement, or when I get to Z, then I’ll have done something. But what about all the other letters along the way? There’s something to celebrate in each of them if I remember that life is a journey, not a destination.
So, here goes. A little thing to celebrate. Kirkus, a notoriously tough and highly respected book reviewer, did a review of Jupiter Storm. I wasn’t going to share the review at first because it isn’t a starred review. Don’t get me wrong. It’s a really, really good review. But it’s not a *starred* review. In my destination thinking, that meant that it wasn’t worthy of sharing, but that’s just silly. I’m proud of the book and I’m proud of the review, so I should take the opportunity to be happy and to share that happiness with you. Happiness is a good thing to share and, if nothing else, that is worth celebrating.
[Pictured, me with an obnoxiously large sign that loudly proclaims good things about Jupiter Storm.]
