Available on Kindle….

Have you ever experienced something that you know to be real but, somehow, it just doesn’t feel that way? That was how I felt when I received an email this morning which said “Congratulations, your book is now available for purchase on Kindle.” I’ve had my Kindle for years and it stores around 450 books, all of which I have downloaded and taken great pleasure in reading. The fact that someone may now do with my book is almost unfathomable but it has happened and I think, once the shock has worn off, I will be beyond thrilled.

I joined WP because, frankly, I needed something to do. I needed to busy myself as I tried to settle in a new country and  live with the grief that had crippled me for three years. I figured that I would post something, I’d read other people’s posts and try to learn from them so that I could gather a following; I honestly expected nothing more. What actually happened was that I discovered a community, a real community that exits in harmony because all the members have a common interest – a love of reading and writing. In the ‘real’ world there is so much hatred, bitterness, cynicism – all things that crush self-esteem and make us doubt ourselves at every turn. On WP there is openness, vulnerability, humour, support, honesty and kindness, especially kindness and spending time here restored my faith in human nature.

Beyond that and, arguably less importantly, it gave me the inspiration and courage to write from my heart without fear of derision. The acceptance and encouragement that I have received here on WP opened my mind enough for a book to escape and end up on Kindle. I can’t thank you all enough, sincerely, you have given me a new lease of life which, for a long time, I thought was impossible. There are a few people that I’d like to give special thanks to:

Mike, who asked me to write a synopsis for his book and first made me wonder if I might be able to write a book one day

Peter, who is wise, kind and funny and so positive about life that you can’t help but be swept along

Fandango whose FOWC one word prompts inspired me to start writing short stories – one of them ended up turning into a book

Lorraine, who, despite having her own challenges, is unfailingly kind and generous

Darren, who is one of the first people I connected with on WP and is an all round lovely guy

River, who rekindled my interest in poetry and inspired me to write with an open heart, as he does so well.

Rory, because he puts so much of himself into WP and his openness really inspired me

Brian, simply because he never fails to make me laugh and I’ve needed that (a lot) over the last couple of years

There are so many others – Wendi, Sadje, Billy, Tom, Boo, Deborah, Ivor, Brandi, Mike…..the list just goes on and on and I appreciate every single one of you. You have helped to make a long held dream come true with your support and kindness and I toast all of you with this rather insipid virtual champagne (it’s really not as good as the real thing!)

Lisa x