From Dark to Light In 30 Days

by Kate Collins
TO CATCH A LEAF comes out this Tuesday, November 1st,which, "coincidentally," would have been my 14th weddinganniversary. I put that in quotes because I don't really believe in coincidencesany longer. Too many things have happened in the past year that were way toomagical to have been sheer coincidence. Anyway, as appalling as it sounds, Iwas so focused on other things – promoting the new book and writing the next,mainly – that until a few weeks ago, the dual significance of that date totallyslipped my mind. Horrible, isn't it?
That aside, I'm ridiculously proud of this book. Mygrief counselor dubbed it, "the book of my depression," although you wouldnever know that now. I'd written a third of it when my husband passed awaysuddenly, and because of the approaching deadline, I had to finish it in ashort amount of time. Somehow, I pushed through my grief and succeeded -- andthought I did a decent job of it – until it came back for revisions. Let me putit this way: My editor gently suggested that the story needed "a little lightening,"when in fact it needed a ginormous sunshine transfusion.
But how was I to do that in a few weeks time when Iwas still reeling? That was when something wondrous happened. My muse tookover. She simply took over my fingers and the words flowed through the keypadand onto the screen. My humor came back. My sense of detail, my characters'voices, my passion for justice, my love of the little flower shop namedBloomers – they all rushed into the dark void inside me. I can't tell youexactly how it happened, only that I allowed myself to open up, to listen to aninner guidance that I call my muse, or my guardian angel, if you will. In fact,if you read it carefully, you'll see a bit of magic she put in herself.
Still, I worried that this book would let down myreaders, that the story wouldn't be up to snuff. Then the first review came in,and I cried. Lori Boness Caswell, at Dollycas's Thoughts blogsite, gave it fivestars and said she wished she could give it ten. More reviews followed – Fresh Fiction,RT, Once Upon a Romance -- and they were all great! What a relief!

I'm really excited about this book, and I truly hopeyou like it. Tuesday would have been a sad day for me, but thanks toProvidence, and my muse, I have reason to celebrate.