Make me to hear Joy and Gladness- June 26, 2010

 June 22, 2010.

Today, if you did a search on Google, for my book, Arthur Collins and the Three Wishes,  you might come across many listings for: A Day of Celebration for Arthur Collins! 

 On June 26th at 11:30 we will have a belated birthday party & book launch for my book. And all I can think is: I am going to enjoy this because it has been a long time coming.

We will do some of the things that are usually on the program for book events.  I’ll read from my book, and we will have some short speeches. But we will change the pattern, and add some excitement with a fencing demonstration.

The demonstration is, officially, part of the event  because in the second book: Arthur Collins Master of the Mirror,  Arthur takes fencing lessons. Unofficially, the fencing is a gift to myself.  

I who have enjoyed the grace of the sword fights in old movies, and have loved Cyrano de Bergerac, will hear those exciting words: En garde! To me, fencing has always seemed symbolic of  life and its many battles– maybe exciting, but always risky; these dangerous encounters are frightening and leave you exhausted..and often without the enemy being vanquished- too much like real life.  

To most of the people who attend book events, they are pleasant intervals: a reading, a few speeches, and maybe a chance to have their book signed, and then a nice lunch, but to the writers, just as fencing is to me, book events are much more.

They are the culmination of days of work that they have given to their book. The launch is a pause, not the stopping point, because writing a book and making it a success can take years of fighting and effort, but it is a time of gratitude and of celebration for having come so far.  

It is important for a writer to have those pauses, times to reflect on what she has done, and to remember what it took in effort and in hours to bring her to this point.  She is tempted to whisper Psalm 51 8 to herself:  Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. 

Writing is work that isn’t paid by the hour, so unless fate smiles, and the publishing world relents, gathers you to its bosom, makes you the latest American Writer Idol, and markets your book with a vengence–the writer fights for each small success.

At writing conferences writers tell of the years spent, writing, submitting, then, re-writing. They tell of the sacrifices  it took before they  finally got their book into print and of the small financial return. In the tough world of publishing, a run-away-best-seller is a miracle; a highly successful author is a rarity.

So that day of celebration must be savored, not just by the audience, it must be a day of  great “Joy and Gladness” for the writer, and for her family and friends. 

She must resolve that it will be joyful  for all of her “Heart’s Dearest'”,  and she will struggle to tell them that the Celebration day is theirs, as much as hers, because it would never have happened without their love and support.