Saturday, January 12, 2008

Moment of Joy....

The Briton Arrives!
The Briton Arrives!

Joan Marlow Golan, executive editor of Steeple Hill, just shared a lovely story from author Catherine Palmer. She sent the above photo with a note to Joan, and her agent, Karen Solem.

I thought you might want to see this photo of Tim and me moments after we opened the box containing our copies of The Briton. Even now, we are still in a bit of a daze that the manuscript which sat in our closet (and moved from house to house with us) for 25 long years is now in print and available now!

When I finished the original draft (in longhand in 4 college-ruled notebooks), Tim purchased the very first kind of Macintosh computer ever made. It cost a fortune, and we were as poor as church mice. Tim said, "This book is the best thing we have going for us," and he backed up his statement with the outlay of money for that computer.

I wrote so many books on that little tan machine with its dot-matrix printer. The Briton won enough contests that Pat Teal wanted to work as an agent with me and many editors looked at that manuscript and others.

Finally I began to sell, but God had His own timing for The Briton. I'm glad He saved it until I had been writing so many years and had the skill to reshape it. Tim also played an essential part in the book -- supporting my writing of it and editing the content countless times in various incarnations through the years.

I'm delighted Karen was my agent. I'm pleased I was in the Christian market when it sold. And I'm thrilled He chose Steeple Hill as its publisher.

Many thanks to both of you for making this dream come true.

Love and blessings,

Cathy


Sharing the moment with Tessie!Tim and Catherine Palmer with The Briton
Sharing the moment with Tessie! -- Catherine and Tim Palmer

We each have our own path before us, filled with challenges and setbacks, of facing the unexpected and disappointments. How truly delightful it is to have a moment of joy--and to be able to share it.

The Briton by Catherine Palmer is available now from eHarlequin.com or other on or off-line bookstores.

2 comments:

Ruth Logan Herne said...

Catherine and all, what a great story. Wonderful.

And how cool of Joan to send it along, share it with others.

I can't say I always love God's timing.... I think we can all identify with that in the moment, but when things finally work out, our vision clears, and the clouds lift, we breathe a sigh and say, "Ah. That's why."

We're so.... human.

Thanks for sharing this. I'm looking forward to reading The Briton.

Ruth

Isabel Swift said...

Ruth, thank you for sharing. I have worked in series romance for decades and I have to say, I do really want that happy ending!

Sometimes it seems awfully slow to arrive. And there are those challenging times when the resolution we think we wanted is not the one we get. It takes flexibility, the ability to take the long view, the capacity to listen and adjust while still keeping centered and true.

Kind of like walking confidently forward while on a tightrope with something balanced on your head, eh?