How you can make your dreams come true
If you had asked me a few years ago, "Who is Cathy Stenquist?" I would probably have responded, "Wife, mother, lover of all things creative." But I wouldn't have called myself a writer. Though I have always had a special connection to the written word, my dabbling with playgroup newsletters or drafting the occasional article for the church bulletin never felt like it earned the moniker 'writer' or 'author'.
Then I took a chance.
I sent in one of my stories to Chicken Soup for the Soul on a whim. And to my great surprise, they contacted me a few weeks later and wanted to publish it. Within a few months a heavy box arrived, and like a child on Christmas morning, I couldn't wait to tear open the package. Holding the copy of that book in my hand was magical. As I giggled and cried, I flipped to the Table of Contents, and there it was ...
"A Note from Heaven"......... Cathleen Stenquist Pg 30
I held the edge of the page in disbelief. My name... Cathleen Stenquist, printed on the paper. My finger slowly scanned across the Times New Roman font, as if to feel that it was actually there. It was the first time I let myself believe it.
I am a writer.
The journey since has been more than I could have imagined. Every webinar, class or writer's group I have joined, has led me to a community which generously shares and supports each other in our efforts to be published. I have listened, learned and grown as a writer.
In a very short time my first picture book, Forever Home, will be published and I know the same tears and laughter I felt that day several years ago, will fill my kitchen as I tear open my box of picture books. It is the moment that a writer lives for. To know that my words have become something tangible; an instrument that will now touch someone else's heart, making them think, learn, laugh and cry and just maybe ... be richer because of my words.
I understand Nike's motto "Just Do It!" a bit better now. For a moment I stopped questioning, worrying and waiting; took one bold step and found my true vocation. What is your dream? It may only take one brave step. I cannot wait to share the journey with you. Here we go!
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