A Special Day

I’ve spent the past week wondering what to blog about today. I have half-written two stories in my head and nearly completed another on paper, none of which felt right to me. And yet, today’s blog should have been so easy for me to write. You see, today is a special day.

When my husband and I were dating way back in the Eighties, he had a cassette tape (hands up those who can still remember those things) containing a 1965 comedy album written by Bob Booker and George Foster called “You Don’t Have to be Jewish.” Various snippets of this album often come to mind, some memories longer than others. All I can remember of one of those jokes (which I’ve subsequently learned is maybe the oldest Jewish joke in history), was an old Yiddish Mama shouting out “Give him some chicken soup.”

Which reminds me of why today is so special for me . . .

October 15th, my first Chicken Soup for the Soul story goes on sale in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Miraculous Messages from Heaven (101 Stories of Eternal Love, Powerful Connections, and Divine Signs from Beyond). Be sure to look out for story #5, A New Home if you happen to come across a copy. Who would have thought that nearly two decades after my niece’s tragic death in a car accident, the story of my sister’s incredible dream on her late daughter’s 18th birthday would be read by people around the world?

What a feeling it was to receive my ten free copies last week. I proudly showed one of the books to my boss, who promptly asked if he could borrow it for the weekend. The next morning I got the following text from his wife: "Hi Marion. I am sitting here with tears streaming down my face after reading your story. Such a message of hope in the midst of such heartache. You write beautifully. Congrats on being published."

 

 

 

 

And that’s what makes the hard work of writing, editing, submitting, and waiting, all worthwhile: when you know your words have succeeded in creating what writers—fiction and non-fiction—seek after . . .  that all-important Powerful Emotional Experience for the reader.

My prayer for A New Home is that, like the Jewish comfort food, this story will bring comfort and hope to all who turn to page 13 of this inspiring new Chicken Soup for the Soul book.

http://www.amazon.com/Chicken-Soup-Soul-Connections-ebook/dp/B00CK6LWWW/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381790257&sr=1-1&keywords=chicken+soup+for+the+soul%3A+miraculous+messages+from+heaven

  

Marion Ueckermann’s passion for writing was sparked in 2001 when she moved to Ireland with her husband and two sons. Since then she has published devotional articles and stories in Winners (2009), The One Year Devotional of Joy and Laughter (published August 2011 by Tyndale House Publishers) and Chicken Soup for the Soul: Miraculous Messages from Heaven (published 15 October 2013). She blogs for International Christian Fiction Writers and belongs to Christian Writers of South Africa and American Christian Fiction Writers. She now lives in Pretoria East, South Africa in an empty nest with her husband and their crazy black Scottie, Wally.