Heard Another Great Quote Today

He who loses wealth loses much;
he who loses a friend loses more;
but he that loses his courage loses all.
  ~Miguel de Cervantes

It is sometimes so very difficult to be courageous, especially when you are going it alone. Writing is like that, book marketing is like that. Looking for employment is like that. There are a multitude of circumstances in every walk of life like that.

I often have to ignore the tingles in my stomach (or my head) and go forth with or without them every time I contact a book store on behalf of my book Peripheral View (treating it as a product with value, ignoring the piece of my heart  and soul that went into writing it). If I don’t ignore the 1000 little tingles and voices that say it’s not good enough and recall all the positive reviews and feedback, I’d probably crawl into a hole and not come back out!

I have a publicist, a quite wonderful woman, but there are still many things I must do on my own. Opening doors is a laborous, sometimes lonely task, but we must be brave enough to do it anyway. And don’t just knock–place your foot firmly on the threshold and leave it there. You have every right to be there, as much right as anybody else. Don’t feel inferior, because you are not; don’t let those tingles steal your stride.