Desperation is a funny thing, though. Desperation whispers in your ear and tells you to change your perspective. Sometimes, you don’t even realize you are desperate until after the fact.

I’ve been unemployed for almost six months now. My state unemployment insurance will run out soon. I really need to find a job.

So when a position that I would be incredibly qualified for at one of my old jobs opened up this week, I stopped by to talk to my old boss to see if there was any chance I would be considered. After all, we didn’t part well, but some time has passed. Perhaps we could come to an understanding about expectations and try this all again.

You might ask, “What was I thinking?” I certainly thought it. But I know what the answer was. I was thinking about paying bills. That’s really all I was thinking about.

Desperation was whispering in my ear. It whispered loud enough that I temporarily forgot how I spent three years being marginalized and diminished. How no idea I ever brought forward was ever implemented or treated with respect until it was echoed by someone else. How I was treated as though I was stupid or inexperienced or uneducated on whatever the subject was.

How I was forced to eat shit day in and day out.

Fortunately, as I sat prostrating myself before this boss who spent three years refusing to acknowledge any of my accomplishments and demeaning me, she did it again. She told me straight up I wouldn’t be qualified for this new position, suggesting the three years of work I did for her did not amount to “professional experience.” She disparaged every one of my achievements on her behalf again.

And I remembered that I’m not very good at eating shit. I remembered that I am a published author with a brand new short story out, who is enjoying trying to fulfill his dreams.

I remembered that it is possible to pay bills and maintain my dignity.

So I told desperation to shut the hell up. I’ll find something that pays the bills until being a published author does it that doesn’t involve me working for someone who has no respect for me as a person or a professional. I remembered who I am.

And I’m not going to forget again.

First, I’m pleased to announce my new short story, “The Coronation of King Charles III.” I’ll be releasing it through Smashwords, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble on Wednesday in all the sundry e-formats. Here’s the promo copy:

Cover for "The Coronation of King Charles III"

Charles III is about to ascend the throne of Cotreur, and not everyone is happy about it. The prince plans to outlaw magic once he is king. It may make crops grow, help families have children, and cure the sick, but the conservative Scarlet Brotherhood believes that subverts the will of the gods. Worse, it is only practicable by women – a sure sign it comes from The Dark One – and witches are said to be able to steal a man’s will by bedding him.

But not everyone agrees with Charles’s interpretation, and Juliette has no desire to be put to death for practicing her art. She enlists the aid of Bishop Gerard to persuade the crown prince to alter his thinking. But when the bishop’s pleas fall on deaf ears, it may be time for more desperate action.

“The Coronation of King Charles III” is a short story by John R. Phythyon, Jr., author State of Grace, that examines the relationship between politics and religion and asks, “How far will you go to protect your beliefs?”

As you can see, I’ve included an advance look at the cover for the story. “Coronation” will sell for 99 cents.

I’ve also uploaded State of Grace to CreateSpace. Soon it will be available in print for those of you who prefer turning pages instead of swiping an e-reader screen. That will also enable me to have it sold in traditional book stores, as well as request a review from Publisher’s Weekly.

Also, Monday and Tuesday are the last days you can get State of Grace for 99 cents. On Wednesday, it goes back to $2.99. If you haven’t bought it yet and are thinking about it, buy it today so you can save a couple bucks! Once January ends, so does the sale.

Thanks to everyone for their support and for reading. I’m looking forward to a very big week!

Reality is a little different. In reality, I bust my ass sending three to four tweets a day on the book and several more on the blog, try to update my Facebook daily, put free loss-leader stories out on Goodreads, Smashwords, and my website, and post solicitations to my friends.

And I get a few sales.

If you’re dreaming about being a self-published author, this is the big, romantic story you’re probably in for. Work hard, scratch out a few sales. Work some more.

Fortunately, I haven’t had any illusions shattered. I knew full well this was the most likely scenario. Oh, I dreamed about being an overnight sensation, but I figured I was going to have to scrape and claw to earn one to two sales at a time.

And let’s face it, Konrath is making a truckload of money e-publishing, because he spent years busting his hump selling his print books. He used book tours, the internet, and sheer willpower to slowly build a following. He has an enormous platform. I’ve been at this since October.

But if I’m not an Amazon bestseller yet, I am making progress towards 2012 being The Year of Phythyon’s Rise as an Author. Last week, I got a four-star review for State of Grace on barnesandnoble.com. The reader didn’t leave any notes to help sell the book, but he or she did rate it four stars out of five.

Today, I landed a second four-star review at the Have You Heard Book Review blog, and she was kind enough to cross-post her review to Amazon and Goodreads. And the Kindle Book Review blog has agreed to review it as well. So I’m making progress on getting it read and reviewed, which is absolutely key in the Brave New World of electronic book publishing and buying.

In the meantime, I’ve been working this week on getting State of Grace formatted for print-on-demand publishing through CreateSpace. I am hoping to get it sent off to press by the end of the week, so that the book will soon be in print for those who prefer hard copies.

My short story, “The Coronation of King Charles III,” has made it through the final stages of editing. The cover should be completed by the end of the weekend, so, with any luck, it will be available for sale next week.

And I continue to write away at the next installment in the Wolf Dasher series, Red Dragon Five. I just finished Chapter 17 today and figure I’m somewhere between 40% and 50% done.

STATE OF GRACE -- Earning four-star reviews and on sale for 99 cents!

When I set out on this journey to become a self-published author in October, I viewed it as an adventure. It is still is. I see no reason to be discouraged that I am not melting Amazon.com’s servers with explosive sales of my debut novel. I knew this was going to be a long path and that it would take time to build a following.

The beautiful thing about e-publishing is nothing ever has to go out of print. The more products I publish, the more likely it is someone will find something they want to buy. And the only thing that will ever stop them from buying and reading more is having read everything I’ve ever published. I’ve got time to make this happen.

Of course, it would still be nice to be one of those overnight sensations you read about in the newspaper (online version, of course!). So if you’d like to make that happen, State of Grace is on sale for 99 cents right now at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords. After you’ve read it, write a four- or five-star review and tell all your friends to buy it. After all, I’m working hard, but I can always use some help.

This adventure remains fun and fulfilling, but it would be more fun if reality was a little closer to the dream.

What made you want to become an author?

I am a storyteller by nature. As a kid, I made up adventures for superhero and Star Wars figures. In high school, I discovered Dungeons & Dragons and was the dungeon master from the very beginning. In normal conversation as an adult, I always have a story to tell. Becoming an author has been a dream since college, and it’s pretty much just a formalization of who I am.

Why did you decide to e-publish instead of going the traditional route?

I wrote three novels before State of Grace that I tried to sell the traditional way through an agent. I have a drawer in my desk thick with rejection letters from agents who, for one reason or another, didn’t believe in those books.

When I finished State of Grace, I contemplated attempting the same thing. However, I came across blog entries by several self-published e-authors, including the highly influential Joe Konrath, that convinced me the time had arrived for electronic books. With the explosion of e-readers at Christmas 2010, e-publishing was now a very viable, emerging market instead of just a new twist on publishing. On top of that, distributors like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords are offering vastly superior royalties to what you can get from a traditional legacy publisher, and the risk of publishing an e-book – the cost of getting it done – is really low.

So, with all that in mind, I decided it was time to try what was working for other people. I skipped the traditional route and went into business for myself.

Do you feel like a “real” author even though you self-published?

Yes. I’ll grant that an agent or a publishing house didn’t agree to buy my book. But the world is changing. The costs of doing business are so low for e-publishing and the desire by consumers for eBooks is high enough that there is no longer a real need for gatekeepers. Consumers don’t care if the books are published by one of the Big Six or an independent author. They just want to read a good book. E-publishing is a viable business model.

Moreover, I believe in my book. I believe there is a market for an adventure story that marries the elements of a James Bond thriller and a traditional fantasy setting. This sort of genre fusion is standard in the hobby games industry, where I learned publishing, and people are always looking for different things. If a legacy publisher or an agent doesn’t believe in my book because they don’t recognize the market for it or they are afraid of the costs of pushing a new author, that’s their loss. I am willing to bet on myself.

And if I lose, no one gets hurt (except maybe my ego). It cost less than $50 to publish State of Grace. If I sell hardly any copies, I’ve lost almost nothing. But if it sells even remotely well, and sustains my writing career, then all my dreams come true.

So, yes, I feel like a “real” author. I wrote a damned good book, and I’m working my butt off to sell it . . . which is exactly what I’d have had to do if a legacy publisher had picked it up, except that, this way, I’ll make more per book.

What’s State of Grace about?

As I mentioned, it combines Bond-style action with fantasy. The plot concerns a human secret agent with special powers who must travel to a nation of elves to find out who murdered one of his colleagues. The elves are in the midst of a political crisis, having split into two countries as a result of a religious schism. The main character, Wolf Dasher, must navigate an unfamiliar culture to uncover a plot for a coup that will upset the balance of power in the world.

But the novel is really about faith and nationalism. Wolf is an atheist and a patriot. Elves are the most devout people on Earth. The villain is a zealot but also a patriot. The two of them clash over what loyalty to one’s country really means and over the role of God and religion in political life.

The world I’ve created is loosely based on the U.S.-British situation in Iraq and Afghanistan. Wolf’s country, Urland, has troops in the elf nation, Alfar. They are there to support the rightful government and protect Urlish interests. Suicide bombers (who use wands instead of explosives) are attempting to destabilize the situation and overthrow the government. One of the themes is how we are attempting to enforce our will on a culture we don’t really understand. For all his earnest intentions, Wolf is a fish out of water when he travels to Alfar.

What made you want to write that sort of book?

First and foremost, I love Bond-style adventure. I’ve been wanting to write a spy thriller for years.

Second, making it a fantasy novel not only opens a second market for me, it allows me to create situations and characters without having to be an expert on U.S. foreign policy or espionage. What I know about spies I mostly learned from movies and books. By taking my story out of the real world and putting it in a fantasy one, I don’t have to worry about authenticity.

Finally, I wanted to write a book that was a little more than a standard adventure. I wanted to say something. I’m no expert on Iraq or Afghanistan, but I do know that Western and Islamic cultures are different. We can get along, but I don’t think either culture (as a group) makes a very strong effort to do so. We need to spend time getting to understand each other and learning how to coexist. The problems in the Middle East are complex, and the solutions are not simple. State of Grace attempts to illustrate this point.

You make it sound more like a literary novel than a genre piece.

When I was in college I took a terrific course on science fiction and fantasy literature. My professors had us read a number of classics – The Hobbit, Brave New World, Out of the Silent Planet, The Once and Future King, etc. In the class, we learned about basic tropes and structure for science fiction versus fantasy novels. But we also discussed the themes of the books. My professors asserted that the purpose of writing a fantasy or sci-fi book was to talk about something important but to give the reader the safety of distance. It’s much easier to think about the implications of language manipulation and government surveillance if we do so in the context of a dystopian future, as George Orwell does in 1984. Making a certain group of people into a fantasy race makes it easier to celebrate or condemn their culture, as Tolkien does with elves and orcs in Lord of the Rings.

And you can do that in a James Bond-style thriller?

Yes. Bond is the enforcer of Western culture. During the Cold War, he was triumphing over the Soviets. Now, he confronts terrorists and other enemies of Western-style freedom.

In the same way, Wolf Dasher goes to Alfar as the instrument of Urlish foreign policy. Once there, he discovers things are a lot more complicated. He continues to defend Urland’s interests, but he also acquires an appreciation for Elfin culture and becomes invested in protecting Alfar from her enemies. By setting all this in a fantasy world, we get some distance so we can consider these issues safely.

Will we be seeing more of Wolf Dasher?

Yes. I’ve released a free Wolf Dasher short story called, “The Darkline Protocol.” It’s set a few years before State of Grace and introduces the character. You can get it by clicking here.

I’m also writing the sequel, Red Dragon Five, right now. That book is also set in Alfar and further develops the elves we meet in State of Grace, while exploring issues of family and love. And, of course, there’s a bad guy with a devastating plot Wolf has to stop.

What’s next?

In addition to Red Dragon Five, I plan to get some other things published this year. I have a short story, “The Coronation of King Charles III” that should be out by the end of the month. It’s a fantasy as well and is about religion and politics and women’s rights. Next month, I will release another short story, “Sleeping Beauty,” which is a modern retelling of the classic fairytale. Plus, I’m working on getting State of Grace into print through Amazon’s CreateSpace.

After that, I’ve got some other projects in various phases of completion. My goal is to have three novels and several short stories published by the end of the year. I’m hoping once I have numerous works available for sale, I’ll be earning a sustainable level of income. Publishing State of Grace made me an author. Now I want to do it for a living.

I was happy she enjoyed it but maintained an old-world attitude of preferring traditional books. I claimed to like the tactile sensation of holding a book and the smell of the pages.

Yeah, well, while those things were true, I hadn’t actually used an e-reader. I got a traditional Kindle for Christmas and upgraded it to a Fire for my birthday (the first time it was ever convenient to have my birthday so close to Christmas). I could not love it more.

I bought a leather case for it that opens like a book cover. Thus, when I am reading, it feels like I’m holding a book. I turn pages by swiping my finger across the screen. Best of all, I can adjust the size of the text to accommodate my 44-year-old eyes.

I haven’t used Barnes & Noble’s Nook (although my brother has one), but I have watched my current girlfriend use her iPad the same way I do my Kindle. As far as I can tell, the only part of the traditional-book-reading experience the modern e-reader doesn’t produce is the smell of the pages. I’m sure Apple or Amazon is working on that right now, though.

My Kindle goes wherever I go now. It’s small enough it isn’t inconvenient to carry. I can now read just about anywhere, and I find myself reading a lot more than when I had to lug a book around.

Moreover, it’s made books cheaper. Yes, the Fire cost $200, and it will take me awhile to recoup that investment (assuming I had paid for the device instead of my family), but I can get books a lot cheaper now. Even if I wanted to pay the outrageous prices legacy publishers are asking for their e-books, it’s still significantly cheaper than a $30 hardcover. And I’ve discovered independent authors whose books sell for between one and three dollars. The writing or the production isn’t always as good. But when I’m only paying a buck, I don’t mind as much.

And, when I finish reading for the day, I can logon to Goodreads directly from the device and update my progress. (I can also fool around on Facebook and other sites.)

In short, I was so very wrong last year when I turned up my nose at the e-reading experience. I can live without the smell of the pages for this much awesomeness.

So despite my middle age, I am definitely embracing the Brave New World of this 21st Century technology. I’m reading more than I used to, and I’m having fun doing so. Vive la revolution!

To an extent, this is understandable. When life is hard, the natural inclination is to take pleasure where you can get it. Thus, buying little things for yourself or blowing extra cash on lottery tickets to pursue the fantasy of escaping your financial situation makes a certain kind of sense.

By way of contrast, the rich didn’t get that way by spending their money. They saved it and invested it wisely. Thus, they have plenty and spend some of it on pleasure and hold onto the rest.

A lifetime of these sorts of fiscal decisions are not unlearned easily or quickly, and dark financial times encourage the most conservative financial practices, not the most aggressive ones.

Why does this matter? Because to solve an economic crisis, you have to take people’s financial habits into account. In the U.S., consumer spending accounts for more than 60% of the gross domestic product. Thus, a healthy economy depends on people spending their income.

Here in Kansas, Governor Sam Brownback has proposed overhauling the tax code. If the governor’s plan is adopted, the poorest Kansans would see their taxes rise 5000%. That’s not a typo. All those zeros belong in that figure. Middle-income families would also see a significant rise in their tax burden, while the wealthiest Kansans — those earning $1M per year or more — would benefit from a $17,000 tax cut.

These cuts and raises will be accomplished by eliminating a lot of tax credits, many of which benefit the poor, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (ironically, a highly touted tax reform created by the Reagan administration). The Brownback administration claims these losses will be offset by investing more dollars in programs that benefit the poor, but they have so far been vague on what these programs are or how much money will be allocated to them.

Meanwhile, the governor contends the tax cuts on the wealthy are needed to stimulate the economy. After all, it is the rich who own companies and can thus afford to hire more people.

But let’s go back to that ugly fact; poor people and rich people use money differently. Poor people spend just about everything they have. Rich people save most of theirs.

Therefore, if the purpose of overhauling the Kansas tax code is to stimulate the economy, raising taxes on the poor and cutting them for the rich is not only the wonrg way to do it, it’s absolutely backwards. The governor’s plan takes money out of the hands of the people who spend it and puts it in the wallets of those who don’t. And, since consumer spending is the engine of the modern American economy, that approach will slow the recovery instead of speeding it up.

Forget any moral/ethical implications of where the tax burden is being laid. The Brownback plan is just illogical from an economic point of view.

Now, it is true that the rich invest their funds, and investments are another key component of a healthy economy. Giving the wealthy more money to invest does offer some economic stimulus. But the companies they invest in won’t be worth much if they can’t sell their goods, and they layoff their employees, creating more drag on the state’s financial status.

From a logic standpoint, it makes sense to cut corporate taxes. In theory, companies could hire more workers and pay existing employees more if they had a lower tax liability. Of course, they’d actually have to follow through on that, but that type of policy could actually stimulate the economy.

Nationwide, the GOP is advocating for reduced taxes on the wealthiest Americans to stimulate the economy. Simple logic defies this idea as good policy. For better or worse, we’ve transformed our economy into one that runs on consumerism. To get things going again, we’ve got to put money in the hands of the spenders.

That isn’t accomplished by raising their taxes.

Last month in this space, I wrote that Kansas hiring Charlie Weis as its new head football coach was more about getting attention than winning football games. I argued that Weis gave the Jayhawks some big-name legitimacy that will not translate into conference titles and noted that Weis’s record with the players he recruited at Notre Dame (16-21) was far worse than his record with the ones he inherited from his predecessor (19-6). It looked to me like Charlie Weis can coach, but he can’t recruit.

Weis hasn’t coached a single practice at KU, let alone a game, but the early outlook suggests I might need to grab for the bottle of hot sauce for the crow I promised to eat if I was wrong.

Since taking over, Weis has put together an incredible staff. He hired Pro Bowl center Tim Grunhard to coach the offensive line. He got former Jayhawks DB and defensive coordinator Clint Bowen to be his special teams coordinator. He lured Dave Campo away from the Dallas Cowboys to be the defensive coordinator. That’s an impressive group of good coaches. He’s also convinced marquee players to transfer to Kansas — notably Notre Dame’s Dayne Crist and BYU’s Jake Heaps.

It certainly doesn’t look like he is having any trouble recruiting winners.

Yesterday in the Lawrence Journal-World, Weis announced he’d dismissed 10 players from the team. Some were for academic reasons, some for disciplinary ones, and some wanted to transfer out of the program.  Some of the players were significant contributors to the 2011 squad.

“I don’t care if they were all starters; it doesn’t make a difference,” Weis said in a news conference. “There’s a right and a wrong way of doing things, and we’re gonna do it the right way. That’s all there is to it.”

For a program that crashed with frightening speed after a 2008 Orange Bowl victory, this can only be viewed as welcome news. Guys who weren’t getting it done either on the field, in the locker room, or in the classroom are gone. People who want to buy into the new program are coming in.

None of this matters if Weis wins as many games in five years as he won at Notre Dame, and, with annual games against Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, and TCU even that might be hard. But on paper, at least, Weis looks like he has the Jayhawks flying in the right direction.

If he does, I can’t wait for a big plate of crow. I’ve got plenty of hot sauce.

Like other artists, writers are masochists of a sort. So we need to stick together and help each other out wherever possible.

Which brings me to Leonard Pitts. To be sure, Pitts doesn’t need my help getting his material over. He’s a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Miami Herald, who is syndicated nationally.

But I’ve admired his work for a long time, and it’s not just because he’s a liberal columnist. It’s true that I agree with about 90% of what Pitts writes. But his politics are not the only reason I read him.

Leonard Pitts is one of the most skilled columnists writing today. His pieces are extremely well crafted. He sets up his argument (often employing Swiftian absurdism), develops it carefully, and is a master of the final-sentence zinger — that literary tactic of summing the whole essay up in a single sentence that hits the reader in the gut and forces him or her to ponder what’s just been read. If you have any aspirations of writing essays or columns, you should be reading Leonard Pitts.

(You should also be reading George Will. I agree with only about 15% of Will’s subject matter, but there are few writers today who can construct as cogent and as erudite an argument as Will.)

Sunday, Pitts veered away from his usual construction, though. Rather than offering his unique insight into the subjects of racism, politics, and American culture, he offered someone else’s. Michelle Alexander’s 2010 book, The New Jim Crow, which argues that the so-called War on Drugs unfairly targets blacks over whites, is being released in paperback. Pitts finds the book, in his words, “troubling and profoundly necessary.” He believes Alexander’s assertions are correct, and he believes we all need to consider them.

So he’s giving her book away for free. Pitts has bought 50 copies of The New Jim Crow in paperback, and he’s giving them away to readers who request them and promise to read them. To participate, send him an email at lpitts@miamiherald.com with the subject line, “I want it. I’ll read it.” You have to include your mailing address in the body of the email, so he can get it to you. At the end of this month, he’ll draw 50 names and mail them the book.

If you’d rather read the book on your e-reader, you can get it for Kindle here and for the Nook here.

I haven’t read Alexander’s book, nor do I know enough about the material to comment on how accurate her claims are. But Leonard Pitts is an excellent author I admire. He’s trying to get someone else’s book over, so we can have a deeper conversation about racism in 21st-Century America. So I’m doing my bit to publicize the opportunity he’s offering.

I encourage to you read Pitts’ column I linked above and decide for yourself if you want to know more. My thought is this: when a writer feels strongly enough to promote another writer’s work, it’s worth paying attention.

But it was news to me too, even though, perhaps it shouldn’t be. The Harvard Business Review Blog has a feature on an article in Scientific American Mind regarding the importance of reading novels. Evidently, people who read a lot of novels have better social skills.

You probably think that sounds counterintuitive. Afterall, the cliche image of a bookworm is some kid or adult walking around with his or her nose stuck in a book. The book goes everywhere the person does, and he or she is more comfortable reading about imaginary people than dealing with real ones.

It seems, though, that reading about the lives of fictional characters and their problems and solutions offers insight into real people. According to the study, reading fiction activates neuronal pathways in the brain that help the person better understand real human emotions. Read about Yossarian’s fear of flying bombing missions, and you may better understand fear in your friends. Camus’s The Stranger may give you some insight into different means of expressing grief.

The better we are at recognizing others’ emotions, the better we can interact with them. That translates to more effective social skills.

Naturally, HBR sees a real business application to this phenomenon. By being able to recognize and understand emotions in others, one can get along better and work more effectively in a team environment. It also figures that being an avid reader and developing better social skills would make one a more effective employee and negotiator, thereby leading to a higher salary.

And here you thought reading was only for pleasure.

If all this is true, it probably doesn’t matter what type of literature you are reading. Whether it’s the classics, romance, fantasy, or thrillers, what really matters are complex characters. People who are more than cutout stereotypes will hone the mind and allow you operate more effectively in the real world.

I encourage you to click on the links above and read both the original article and the HBR blog. Both are a fascinating look at how fiction is a tool we should all be using to be more effective in our interpersonal relationships.

And, of course, I’d be happy to help by having you read my book. Afterall, there are lots of complex characters interacting with each other and a hostile world. Surely reading STATE OF GRACE has some redeeming social value. I’ve provided links below to order it.

Cuz I’m helpful like that.

Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble
Smashwords

To the best of my memory, I’ve never had a bad birthday. They’re not all awesome, but my birthday makes me happy, and something good has always happened.

Birthdays are one of those occasions that compel reflection. It’s always good to assess your life and your goals and see where you stand.

I’m liking the view this year. I’ve moved in with my girlfriend and her kids and dog. They let me bring my cat.

And we all get along. The GF and I have been doing a lot of smiling since I moved in. We’re making each other really happy. The kids are enjoying me making them breakfast before school and packing their lunches. The Boy is watching sports with me, The Girl is having me teach her piano, and we’re all playing games together. Of course, The Girl is nonplussed with having to eat vegetables for dinner now, but no road is ever completely smooth.

And the cat enjoys having a dog to torment.

This is the first birthday I am spending as an Officially Published Author. I’m liking that too, although I wish my sales were stronger. Still, I’m an unknown author with my first book. I recognize this is a process, and building a following is going to take some time. I’m working on my next book, I’ve got a free short story already available, and I’ll have another short story available for sale later this month.

So as I reflect on where I am on this anniversary of my birth, I have two wishes. The first is for a better relationship with my own daughter. It’s never going to be easy with her, but, until the last few weeks, things were improving. Now they’ve taken a turn for the worse again.

It’s unfortunate. Despite all the pain we’ve caused each other, I love her dearly, and I want her in my life. I have never regretted adopting her, and she is important to me. I keep hoping one day she’ll feel the love I have for her and let some of her anger melt away. Until then, I just keep trying.

Second, of course, I’m wishing for more sales of State of Grace. If you’re reading this, and you want to give me a present for my birthday, I’d be very pleased to have you buy the book or gift it to a friend. It’s available from Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, and Smashwords.com. Just click on the site of your choice in the last sentence to purchase it. Best of all, it’s on sale for just 99 cents right now.

And, if you like it, please take a moment to write a review. Reviews are the lifeblood of books in the Brave New World of e-publishing. A couple of five- and four-star reviews on a book’s Amazon or B&N page can really make a difference in sales numbers.

So that’s where I’m at on this birthday. I’m happy with my accomplishments, and I wish I were closer to my daughter and had stronger sales. It feels like a good place to be — satisfied with what I’ve achieved while striving for better things.

Thanks for reading “Pleading the Phyth” and for your support and friendship. I hope when your birthday rolls around, you are even happier than I am today.