I have to tell you I had difficulty coming up with an answer that didn't make me sound a. conceited, b. self indulgent, or, 3. narcissistic.
Let me 'esplain...
I was raised in a strict Irish/Italian Catholic home. The only time we celebrated anything was if it was a Holy day. I never had birthday parties as a kid, because money was tight and my mother considered it a waste to celebrate something that came around every 365 days.
I was a straight A student but my report cards were never celebrated. It was expected that I do well just because it was...expected. When I brought home my report card, my mother signed it and said, "Keep it up."
When I got into college - the first in my family ever to do so - my parents' only response was to ask how I was going to pay for it.
See a pattern here? I lived almost my entire life this way. Until, that is, the very first time I was published.
The day my first book went on sale was March 5, 2015. That night I celebrated by making myself a cake and opening a bottle of Skinny Girl Cosmo.
That little ritual has now become a pattern. For every book's release day, I make myself a chocolate/chocolate cake and open a bottle of Skinny Girl. As self indulgences go, it's pretty tame. But it's the one way I celebrate me and my accomplishments.
And you know what? It never gets old. Every new book published ( there have been 18 so far with 3 more planned to release this year ) I get a thrill from eating that cake and toasting myself with a cosmo. Of course I also get a sugar high and a little buzzed, but....
How do you celebrate yourself and your accomplishments? Like I said, it took my until I was 55 years old to do so. How about you? I'd love to hear.
Book #18 released two days ago and I'm so happy it's out in the romance-reading world.
VANILLA WITH A TWIST tells the story of a small town, single mother and ice cream parlor owner who's faced some tough choices in her life, and an engineer at a crossroads in his, who walks into her shop one summer's day and changes both their lives for ever.
And yes, I made a cake and had a cosmo on Wednesday! hee hee
Until next month, peeps ~ peg
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