A Year of Mixed Blessings

Was 2013 a good year or a bad year? How about a lot of both?

One fun part of last year was publishing my Fancy series. I’d published the first couple of novellas toward the end of 2012, but I finished the rest last year, putting volume 7 on the market late in the summer. The series hasn’t exactly been a bestseller, but at least I did get it written and out there.

As soon as I finished volume 7, I began writing volume one of the three novella series Ruth. Unfortunately, when I submitted it for editing, several things were pointed out to me that required a major rewrite, which, of course, slowed everything down.

A highlight of the year for me came last May, when I attended the DFW Conference. It was my second year to attend, and I got to renew friendships with Piper Bayard, Jenny Hansen, Donna Newton, Julie Glover, and Jess Witkins, along with local friends I don’t see often like Gloria Richard and Kristen Lamb and Ingrid Schaffenburg, and Nigel Blackwell, whom I do see frequently during the year. If I overlooked mentioning anyone, it’s because of an aging brain, not because you’re not important.

Along with renewing these friendships, I got to meet a couple of cyber friends for the first time. Rachel Funk Heller was with a group of my friends when I first got there, and she rode across town with me to barbecue restaurant Kristen wanted to introduce everyone to.

The next evening, I got to meet Tameri Etherton. We’d been corresponding about our desire to meet each other, and it was great to see her. And, folks, she’s as nutty in person as she is on social media. I loved it.

Donna Newton doesn’t speak the language very well since she’s from England, but she fit right in with cowgirls Ingrid Schaffenburg (l) and Julie Glover (r).

Jess Witkins (l) and Julie Glover found a new friend.

When you get Piper Bayard (l), Jenny Hansen (c) and Donna Newton (r) together, you never know what’s going to happen, but you can guess it’ll be something embarrassing.

Rachel Funk Heller (l), shown here with Ingrid Schaffenburg and Kristen Lamb (r), swam over from Hawaii to join us. You might as well come this year—you’re probably not as far away as she was.

Here’s Tameri, along with some old man posing as me.

In November, I attended “The Fall Gathering of Authors” in Texarkana. This is a quality event spearheaded by a tireless lady named Tammy Thompson with the dual purpose of giving some authors exposure and raising money for St. Jude’s Hospital in Memphis.

Here I am with Tammy Thompson, a gracious hostess if there ever was one. Below, Charity Kountz and I shared a table to sell our books, and Patty Wiseman came over from the next table to pose with us.

Rich Weatherly, below, told Charity and me about the event, and we were both glad he did.

There were downsides to the year also. Two of my favorite people had really rough times, Susie Lindau fighting breast cancer, and Renee Shuls-Jacobson, overcoming an addiction that crept up on her from a medication she took under a doctor’s prescription. Susie bounced back so well the year decided to give her some bad floods to deal with as well.

Fortunately, both of these dear ladies are overcomers. Susie is pretty well back to normal, and Renee is well on her way back—if you can call a writer normal. It was tough watching them go through all they had to deal with, but it’s great to see them back on track.

In family news, our daughter and son-in-law are both doing well. She received two promotions. Oldest grandson entered his senior year at Baylor. Middle grandson graduated from New Braunfels Christian Academy. Youngest grandson became quarterback on NBCA’s football team, but during the one game we got to see, he received a fairly serious shoulder injury. Son and daughter-in-law are both doing well. They are in New York City for Christmas and New Year’s.

In sad family news, Sharon’s older sister lost her husband to heart trouble during the summer. A little later, her younger sister lost her mother-in-law Along the way, a beloved cousin of Sharon’s passed also. Seems like we went from one funeral to another for awhile there.

My sister Barb had to have knee replacement surgery redone. In a year and a half, her knee had never recuperated, so she had a new surgery in December to remove the old replacement and put in a new one. I can’t even imagine the suffering she’s been through with that knee.

In December also, I had rotator cuff surgery on my left shoulder. It’s been a big deal to me, and it’s really slowed me down, but it pales in comparison to what Susie and Renee and Barb had to deal with.

How was your year? Good, bad or both?

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WANA: We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.