Friday, June 13, 2014

Celebrate the Small Things and Father's Day

Many thanks to Viklit and her fearless co-hosts for Celebrate the Small Things!
 
This week, I'm celebrating:
 
1.  My book signing at Mostly Books in Gig Harbor! Family and friends came, and I met a few new readers who bought both of my books. :) (full report in early July)
 
2. Sweet encouragement from fellow authors and bloggers. 
 
3. Slow but steady recovery. It will be a week or possibly longer until I am completely well, but it is happening.  
 
4. A burst of writing activity with an even bigger burst of courage to submit my writing to various publications.
 
5. Writing a story, submitting it, and getting it accepted for publication all in one day. Brilliant Flash Fiction will be including my story, "Seedlings," in their first publication!
 
6. A "eureka" moment with my non-fiction book of home school writing curriculum. I'm going to organize the daily sections in the same way that I would teach a class. I kept trying to stick things together in odd ways but I think I have the solution finally - and it seems obvious now. :)
 
7. Hoping to go see Maleficent tonight! It depends on if I feel well enough.
 
 
8. My Dad.
My dad is still my hero. When I was a little kid, I thought he was stronger, faster, and smarter than Superman and the Billion Dollar man put together.
He's a gentle soul but he's persevered through many storms like spending three years in a charity hospital after a botched surgery and having part of his leg amputated as a result. His stories from the boy's ward of that hospital would fill a book and are part of the reason that I love Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (yes, kids are that smart, and yes, life is that hard).
He's been a tree-topper for a logging company (yes, after losing part of his leg), an airplane mechanic and supervisor of inspection, he drafted new designs for airplane engines back in the 80s and sold them to a larger company because he didn't think anyone would respect a patent from a lowly mechanic - but I think the planes we fly on today are safer and more efficient because of him and his name isn't on them anywhere.
He used to like to snow-ski, fish, and go canoeing and camping in the wilderness. He enjoys motorcycles and motor scooters of all kinds, loves to help people, and he reads copiously from news sources and fiction books (is there a difference? time will tell) along with everything I write too.
He is a world class fidgeter and salad eater. He thinks cucumbers fresh from an organic garden with a salt shaker in hand are a good dessert. He's one of a kind.
Happy Father's Day, Dad!
 
What are you celebrating this week? 


19 comments:

Luanne G. Smith said...

Lots of things to be thankful for this week. Most of all, I hope you continue to feel steadily better. And I liked Maleficent. Short on dialogue but big on visuals. :)

Tyrean Martinson said...

Thank you, LG. Thanks for the review of Maleficent!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Your dad sounds awesome.
Glad you're feeling better and congratulation on the acceptance.

Madeline Mora-Summonte said...

You are doing so well! You are an inspiration! Congrats on all the success. :)

Madeline @ The Shellshank Redemption

Tyrean Martinson said...

My dad is awesome. :)
And thanks, Alex!

Tyrean Martinson said...

Wow! Thanks, Madeline! :)

Cathrina Constantine said...

Wonderful post about your dad, I miss mine terribly. Your book signing sounds like a success! Get better and enjoy Maleficent!

Barbara Watson said...

Wonderful things to celebrate! I love dad tributes; my own was the best and I miss him every minute.

Laura Clipson said...

Congratulations on getting your flash fiction accepted! Have a great weekend :)

shelly said...

Yay! Happy dances and chocolate and cupcakes with sprinkles for you!

Cherie Reich said...

Lots of great things to celebrate! Congrats on the flash fiction acceptance! Happy Father's Day to your dad and all the dads out there. :)

L.G. Keltner said...

Congratulations on getting your flash fiction accepted! That's awesome! Have a great weekend!

Unknown said...

That's great news about your book signing and the short story acceptance! I hope you feel better soon. :)

Suzi said...

Wow. Writing, submitting and publication all in one day. That's awesome.

My dad is my hero too. We'll be visiting my parents at their lake cabin on Sunday, but otherwise our weekend is quiet.

Deanie Humphrys-Dunne said...

Great job getting your story accepted. You and your amazing dad must be so proud!

Heather R. Holden said...

Glad to hear your book signing went so well! And you got a story acceptance, too? On the same day you wrote it?! Wow, how exciting! Congrats! :)

Tara Tyler said...

yay for your book signing and the flash flash day! all great celebrations!
and keep recovering, glad you're still working through it. it's not easy to live when youre down! happy father's day =)

Anonymous said...

World class fidgeter? I like him already. A mighty fine tribute, Tyrean. And congratulations on the publication and book signing success. Very cool indeed.

M.J. Fifield said...

That's a great list of celebrations. Writing, submitting and acceptance all in one day—wow!

I hope you're feeling better soon.

And on a completely unrelated note, I've been trying to contact you for my cover reveal, but I don't seem to have an email address for you. If you're still interested/able to participate next week, would you mind terribly sending me an email at mjfifield at gmail dot com? Thank you!