Life-changing events

There are a few things that come along that alter a person's life forever. Usually, they include marriage, births, deaths, divorce, winning the lottery, losing a fortune, getting hired, getting fired, etc.

For people who love to read (and thanks to Harry Potter that number is growing, especially among our young people), the pages of a book occassionally hold that same power. For me, the one book that I have credited for years with changing the way I look at the world was Norman Vincent Peale's book The Power of Positive Thinking. After my mother and dad read it and I heard them discussing it at great length, I decided to read it myself. That must have been back in about 1952, shortly after the book first came out. It was the "talk of the town," so to speak. I was sure that I would never find a book that would have that same effect on me.

And then along came Storm! This book is so different from Norman Vincent Peale's book, but it packs the same powerful wallop! The author, Joyce Anthony, is a newbie to the world of publishing. This is her debut book--not just the first book she has had published, but the first book she wrote! I have gotten to "know" Joyce, thanks to the Internet and the phone, so I have no doubt that all of her books will be as good as Storm, but I'm not sure she will ever top it. I guess I can understand that, at least to a point, as Dunnottar was the first book I ever wrote, the first one that was published, and now--7 years and 14 books later--it still outsells all of my other books. Once in awhile an author just stumbles onto something that "works."

In honor of Joyc'e book, I am pleased to be a part of her current Virtual Book Tour, where she will be visiting various blogs all month long. You can see the complete list of where she will be and when at her website, http://joyceanthony.tripod.com . She will be here on April 23rd.

I admit to not watching a lot of TV, but one of my old-time favorites was a very suave, debonaire PI from back in the '50s. I will try to post a new trivia question about the program almost every day, so stay tuned. For today, guess the program. Clue No. 1 is "Book 'em, Dano." And if you want to have some fun with Joyce, "book 'em" over on Amazon with your own copy of Storm. You won't be sorry. I guarantee it!