Gratitude Rocks!

Hi everyone!
I am YA author B A Binns , writer of contemporary and realistic fiction for teens. My tagline says it all - Stories of Real Boys Growing Into Real Men - and the people who love them. Last month I discussed death. This month I join the other Genre-Istas on a happier note.

This month we're blogging about Gratitude.

I'm always amazed to realize how much I have to be grateful for. Like bad things, they come in clusters. Since I began last month having to put my dog to sleep and ended with my brother's funeral, I didn't have a lot of hope for this column until recently.

But things sometimes happen in real life that would never work in fiction.

My church's youth group came by this weekend to do a fall cleanup of my admittedly sizable yard. (It's a job the lawn maintenance company wanted me to pay them $250 to do) This was a win-win for both of us. This year I had a tree cut down. It was a four-trunk monstrosity in the center of the yard and produced tons of leaves.

The kids came expecting to fill dozens of bags. With the monstrosity gone, they had to deal with barely half as much. The kids were able to perform a valuable service for which I was truly thankful, and yet not break their backs or spend an entire Saturday afternoon. Based on the weather forecasts, one of the last good Saturdays we can expect for a long time.

In my writing world, I recently signed contracts with Follett School Solutions, a book distributor for schools and libraries. Being part of their family makes my YA books (paperbacks and eBooks) available to schools and the kids I most want to reach, reluctant readers.  This week I received my first earnings report from their eShelf. Admittedly not nearly enough for me to winter in Florida (and based on forecasts, this could be the winter I should) but it's a nice extra to my wallet, and nice to know my books are getting into schools.

Also in writing, I just finished my first adult romance novel, The Last Logan. People who know me know I began that story ages ago. I put it aside to work on YA, then returned to it earlier this year only to find that technology had blown away one of my basic premises, the main characters work for a startup print newspaper.  Not only did it need editing, it needed a lot of modernization.  My new on-line news outlet (with a print subdivision for the increasingly small group who still prefer paper) is now in the hands of a couple of volunteer beta readers.

Here she is, Baby On Board

Last, but absolutely not least, I discovered I'm about to become a grandmother. The new edition is scheduled to arrive in March. As you can see, she is bigger than a mere baby bump!!

Seriously, I am the eldest child of my generation and next to the last to have grandchildren. (At least baby sister's son continues to deny being anyone's baby-daddy)  Two years ago, my daughter suffered a miscarriage, but this time the baby is healthy and apparently has a good kick.

So yeah, I have a list of things to be grateful for as 2014 comes to an end.

Except for the winter thing.

Darn it.