Another Conference, Another Book Release – Yay!!!

Just got back from another conference and am able to finally sit down and catch up on blogging. Unfortunately this was not a writer’s conference, but one for my husband and my business. We own and operate an H&R Block Franchise along with an accounting business. We had sold the business four years ago, and through no fault of our own, have the business back in our hands. You never know when life will throw you a curve.

So this year, we had to attend the national convention which was held in Nashville, Tennessee. We decided to drive and take a few extra days to vacation before heading home. We left October 22nd and returned yesterday, November 2nd. Our intentions were good, but the weather, (lots of wind and rain) and a slightly sprained ankle on my part, cut our trip short.

One of the highlights of the trip was seeing the many friends we made over the years when we had the business. It was like coming home to family. Smiles, hugs, and laughter. Catching up on each others’ families, finding out what was new in their businesses and networking was a bonus.

Another highlight was the surprise visit of Henry Bloch, one of the founders of H&R Block. He is 90 years old and as spry and sharp of mind as he was when we last saw him many, many years ago. His sense of humor had all of us laughing until our sides ached. His son had him to talk about his time in the 8th Army Air Force as a Navigator on a B-17. I tried taking a picture of him, but the lighting wasn’t very good.

It was during the conference that I received the cover for All I Want for Christmas is a Soul Mate, in which I have my short story, A Year and A Day. It’s a beautiful cover, one that I excitedly showed off to my fellow franchise owners. The book was originally set to come out after Thanksgiving, but with the hard work of our editor, Char Chaffin, the book is scheduled to be released this Wednesday, November 6th. I’ve never been part of an anthology before, so this should be interesting. The other nineteen authors and myself will be promoting the book on each other’s blogs in the next few weeks. We will include brief excerpts of our books with links to each others’ sites.

So, it was an eventful week. It was rather nice coming home yesterday rather than today. It gave me time to do laundry, put away stuff, catch up on bills and correspondence, and do the other junk that piles up when one is gone for a time.

The next weeks will be busy, and I hope you have time to look into my first participation in a Christmas anthology. Until later.