Manic Monday - The Gift of "Now" by Caddy Rowland

The Gift of “Now” Is the Best Gift We Can Receive

I am an indie author/publisher. I can say that because of a gift that I finally “got”; one that we all have, but usually don’t open. Curious? Good!

In 2010, I went for my annual physical as usual. The routine blood tests all came back normal like usual, and I went on with my day. There was a gift waiting for me, one that had been there since I was born; but once again I failed to open it.

Then, my phone rang. I needed to come back in because my mammogram had something suspicious on it. After another mammogram and biopsy, I got another call. The call that finally got me to open my eyes…the call that finally got me to open the gift.

I had breast cancer. I could go on and on about my feelings, my fears, the surgery, the radiation, the healing, but that is not what this blog is about. This blog is about what getting cancer forces you to do. It forces you to finally open your eyes and see the gift that has been waiting for you from the moment you were born.

It is the gift of “now”.

I finally understood that anything that I wanted to accomplish in my life should not be put on a back burner for “someday”. Someday is not guaranteed. We all run out of “someday” sooner or later. But I did (and do) have “now”. Nothing brings this home to us like the threat of no longer existing.

And so, once I was done with all of the radiation, I committed to writing 5 days a week, at least an hour a day. No matter what. Why? Because “now” is all I had; all any of us have.

I had always wanted to write a novel. Had started a couple but never finished. This time, I knew that if I wanted it to happen, it was up to me to make sure that nothing stopped me. Not even “someday”.

Gastien Part 1: The Cost of the Dream was born from that. I self-published for many reasons. I did not even try to go the traditional route. I wanted freedom. I did not want to wait (remember “now”?). I wanted to control my own destiny in regard to my writing. Gastien Part 1: The Cost of the Dream came out for Kindle and NOOK on August 1, 2011. Paperback arrived shortly after.

I am releasing Gastien Part 2: From Dream to Destiny the week of December 12th. If the formatting and downloading go without glitches, it should be “live” by the time this blog posts!

I am not going to use this blog to talk about the drama/romance series of Gastien. You will find links above at the end of my post. I hope you take a moment to read the descriptions and reviews from those. I simply want to share the gift of “now”.

I could never have imagined how exciting it would be to hold my own book in my hands! It is a feeling that I am glad I got to experience. Cancer did that for me. I had always heard there were blessing to cancer, but thought it was b.s. Not so. The gift of “now” is the greatest gift there is…and it is free and available to all of us.

The cancer is gone. It was caught very early and my doctor says to plan on eventually dying from something else. Yes, of course. No one gets out of here alive. That is why I am moving right into the third book in the Gastien series. It is time. Now!

I hope this holiday season each one of you reading this will accept the gift that has always sat there, waiting for you to open it. I can’t give it to you. Only you can. It is your gift of “now”. Open it. Please.

Caddy Rowland

http://caddyrowlandblog.blogspot.com/

caddyauthor@yahoo.com

twitter: http://www.twitter.com/#caddyorpims

Fanpage: http://www.facebook.com/Gastien.Beauchamp

Buy links (for Gastien Part 1: The Cost of the Dream):

http://tinyurl.com/3ecu8ku For kindle readers

http://tinyurl.com/3ue4a7h For nook readers

http://tinyurl.com/3luddg7 To order paperback

As of the date I wrote this, Gastien Part 2: From Dream to Destiny was in the process of being released. Please check the above sites to see if this book is now available by typing title of my name in the search. If not, it will be very soon!


Folks - thanks for swinging in today and I hope Caddy gave you the same rush of inspiration that she gave me when I read this post!

Later this week I've got Wilf Nussey and Todd Russell on tap - swing in and say hi if you get a chance.

Until next time,
Ciao.
JET