Wow, it’s hard to believe that Mari’s book is done. I entered the last of the edits to part 2 and sent it off to my editor (my dear sweet friend Deirdre). This day has been almost six years in the making.
A week from tonight I will be on a plane heading toward Chicago as I go visit family. But even bigger than this is the reason I’m heading out that way to begin with. ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) is having their annual writing conference September 25-27 in St. Louis, MO. I’m blessed with the ability to be able to go to it this year. I’ve been a member since February 2012, but haven’t been able to attend one of their conferences for differing reasons. This year I talked it over with Keith (the love of my life and my hubby for the past 20 plus years) and he and I agreed that it’d be good for me to go.
So over the winter through spring I worked really hard on finishing the memoir of what happened with Mari, our beautiful little girl, so that I could pitch it to agents at this upcoming conference. I truly believe God has blessed me along this path and I’m starting to really see the possibilities before me.
During the time of writing this book, finding the right title seemed so hard as every time I came up with one it never quite fit the book. The main thing I wanted to do was somehow use Mari’s beautiful Caribbean-blue eyes in the title. In the end, the perfect one came to me: Seeing the Gift. Think about that for a minute. There is so much to this title than just the obvious words. Seeing the gift of Mari. Seeing the gift of her having autism. Seeing the gift of the Army in our lives. Even seeing the gift of how blessed we’ve been through the tragedy of losing our precious little one. Seeing the gift of God in our lives and how He took care of us during our darkest time as we grieved the loss of our little girl. I could go on but I think you get what I mean. Choosing the words ‘seeing the gift’ ended up being the perfect title for a book, a memoir, such as the one I’ve written.
I had a graphic designer created the book cover for me. I think it’s simply beautiful. Tell me what you think. Aren’t her eyes breath-taking.
So happy to see the finished product! You have worked hard Kristena, and I am excited to see how God uses your finished book! God bless! Sylvia
Thank you Sylvia, just for everything. You are one very special person and I know I love ya lots. Just thank you for everything.