“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.”
–Benjamin Franklin

I remember exactly where I was when I first heard the music from Les Miserables. Randy Graff, who went on to receive the Tony Award for her portrayal of Fantine, performed the song “I Dreamed A Dream” on Oprah. I was mesmerized and went out that very day to purchase the 2-cassette Broadway cast recording. It was 1987. And, upon my graduation the following spring, I traveled to New York City to experience the production first hand at The Broadway Theatre.

Like Fantine, we all have dreams. Some wither on the vine, never watered, nurtured, or given the chance to Bloom. But there are others…

From the day I attended Valparaiso, Indiana’s Young Authors Conference, encouraged by my Cooks Corners Elementary 4th Grade Teachers Mrs. Mather and Ms. Townsend, I knew I loved to write. And I dreamed a dream that one day I would publish a book.

Since that time, I’ve filled stacks of journals with musings, poems, snippets of thoughts, quotes, and essays. Some I published here in “The Corner.” Some were fiction projects, including a few stories written in my early school years lost in a basement flood and a 40 chapter murder mystery started in 1988 that I have yet to deem ‘finished.’

I decided recently to take those journals, along with some thoughts from my blog started nearly a decade ago, and refine them. I then assembled them into what eventually turned into a 31 chapter book. I fine-tuned the messages, edited the pages and photographs, and compiled them with an underlying theme of “Taking Yoga Off the Mat.” Uncertain if what I had was a solid product or drivel created by a sentimental wannabe writer, I shared the first draft with a few individuals I trusted. They told me that I might just be on to something.

Wow! (I said to myself.) Now what?

Finding a publisher was the next logical step. I did my research. Learning about self-publishing was almost as challenging as writing the book! The path to publishing is not for the faint of heart, believe me. But, I was very lucky to find a publisher as excited by my ideas as I was! And when you find someone whose personality resonates with you, what you want to say, and what you want to create, it’s like you have reconnected with an old friend. The entire experience ramps up and begins to feel magical.

Editing the book to its final stage was tough. The words woke me in the night, beckoning me to fix and revise. It’s one thing to publish a blog. You know you can always go back and change a thought or fix a misspelling. But a book. Well, once it’s printed, there is no going backwards. I had one shot to make sure the message was complete and the spellings and punctuation were accurate. So, I did my best and learned to let go of the rest.

Any errors or incomplete thoughts will just have to be hashed out through conversations, I guess. I’m on the same page as the Amish quilter who leaves a mistake within the project because only God is perfect. But if you find a mistake, keep it to yourself okay?

My book has a release date: July 7, 2021. It will be available on Amazon.com and through all digital publishing channels, meaning Kindle, Nook, and other ePubs. My hope is that Barnes & Noble will pick it up one day. I’d like to see my book sitting on one of their shelves. Perhaps a campaign of people going into the store and asking for the book will be part of my marketing plan! Volunteers encouraged.

What’s it about, you ask?

Oh, I HOPE you ask!

Taking Yoga Off the Mat offers essays exploring how we take the strength and serenity we find on our yoga mats–real or proverbial–off the mats and into our daily lives. It features stories and reflections. And it offers some hard-earned wisdom and perspective that encourages each of us to recognize that we can do hard things and we can live our best life in the middle of it all.

So, I dreamed a dream. And this happened. A book. By me!

Readers welcome!