Small Exercises in Humility

It's not REALLY necessary to re-ground me, I think. I hope I don't have an over-inflated sense of self-worth.

I know I do a good job with words. I'd like to think that I keep that in perspective; the numbers of page views this blog gets shows me that while I do have some fans of my writing, there's no danger of overexposure. People tend to like my book reviews.

I have been a counselor for 35 years now, dating from the day I earned my M.Ed., and I think I know how to talk, and give comfort or encouragement with my words.

So, today, my older sister called to give me some of the funeral arrangements for Chuck, the husband of our baby sister Wendy. And she very kindly let me know that there were to be no speeches at the funeral, at Wendy's request. Okay, that solves the problem of what I was going to say.

Just in case Carol reads this, let me point out that wasn't the ONLY thing she told me; she did provide very helpful information, and we provided mutual support!
I just like to find it humorous that big sister called to tell me not to talk. 

So, there's that.

The other thing is that I I have just finished the reviews which were promised for the month of December. If my count is correct, I wrote 16 reviews, but some of those were movies, and others were just drop-ins; however, 10 of those were planned and promised. I go with the number 10, because that's how many books Kindle Unlimited lets me check out at one time. For the past couple of months, I've been loading 10, deleting them after they are reviewed, and then loading up again.

I usually solicit from the readers of the Mad Genius Club, and from a certain Facebook page with 1,082 members, a huge fraction of which write science fiction and fantasy. However, this time, I put my offer out on a page I have only recently joined (with 1,783 members), which has as its' focus Conservative and Libertarian Fiction. Although I do not claim to be in either of those camps, as I am a person who is owned by a cat, I find that I enjoy most of the books written by people in that group.

So, I made my customary offer, that I was open for business, and did anyone have a book that they wanted me to review.

Only to be met by a deafening silence.

"Who in the wide world of sports are you?" is the summary statement of the responses that followed. In fact, there was such a confusion that I found it necessary to delete my first post, and make a second one, clarifying who I was, offering my prior reviews as my credentials, and describing what I can and can't review.

Guess I wasn't such a prominent reviewer after all.

Once the ice was broken, though, it was okay. Some of the authors I have already reviewed chipped in with their endorsements, and between what was offered there, and from some other sources, I got my January dance card filled quite satisfactorily.

By the way: I DO have a Plan B. Any time I don't have author requests to review, I go hit Baen up and review what they have on tap. It's ALWAYS good; that's how I discovered Dave Butler most recently, and LOTS of superb writers in the past. In fact, I'm reading "The Cackle of Cthulhu" in between other things at the moment; hence the link at the top of the page.

So, back to reading, and then reviewing. And I will ask you to be in prayer for my sister Wendy for the next while; we are having the service for Chuck, her husband of 34 years, this Saturday, January 6, at 3:00 PM in Macon.

Peace be on your household.