9 Authors on hope

I had the good fortune of being invited to contribute to a Writer Unboxed article on hope. ❤️

Coronavirus has turned the world upside-down and wrecked havoc on life as we know it. Businesses have closed and employees have been furloughed. Few industries, including the publishing industry, have been spared.

With limited distribution, cancelled tours, decreased marketing dollars, and possibly decreased publisher support, Anne-Marie Nieves of Get Red PR realized that many authors launching books between March and May were likely struggling and feeling less than hopeful. But Ann-Marie had recently had a conversation with a client who, having lived through WWII, reiterated the importance of having hope each day. So Anne-Marie reached out to the book community and asked several authors (myself included!) to share–beyond family and faith–what gives us hope for our books and our launches during this uncertain time.

My response to what gives me hope each day is below, but if you want to read the full article you can find it here: 9 Authors on hope

“I’ve always considered myself to be a realist, someone who, by definition, accepts a situation as it is and is prepared to deal with it accordingly. Yet I also maintain a generally optimistic outlook with positive expectations for each day.

But I never imagined a situation where a virus would wreak havoc on life as we know it, where I’d be launching my debut novel in the midst of a worldwide pandemic.

Whenever stress, disappointment, frustration or sadness threatens to overwhelm, I hit the trails. Being in nature lifts my spirits, calms my mind and keeps me grounded. When I’m hiking or trail running, the rhythm of my feet hitting the earth brings me a sense of peace. I connect with my breath and shift my focus to the energy and beauty that surrounds me. Bright green blades of grass shoot from the ground and the wind whispers through the trees. Birds sing, flowers bloom and the stream trickles as it carves its serpentine path into the dirt. I always emerge from the trails feeling rejuvenated, my sense of purpose and hopefulness restored.

In What’s Left Untold, Anna, my main character, turns to running to find herself after becoming lost in the depths of depression and the demands of motherhood. Running empowers Anna to heal and to find hope.

During this uncertain time, it’s important to focus on things that make us feel happy and hopeful. Reading provides a specific type of contentment that comes from curling up with a good book and escaping into an imaginary world. I hope my book will find its way into the hands of readers at a time when they need to escape, to heal, to hope and to believe in better days ahead.” — Sherri Leimkuhler, What’s Left Untold, May 19

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