Cybils and other wonders

Yesterday had two of those nice surprises hidden in it–like the  candy in the center of a tootsie pop or a really funny fortune in your generic at-the-end-of-Chinese-meal fortune cookie.  I was checking out the Cybil Award nominations and found that someone from Virginia, which is a long way from WA State, nominated Travelers’ Market! This on a day when I was feeling very discouraged,  thinking that I could never keep up with all the stuff in the blogosphere that I was supposed to do if I wanted anyone other than a handful of Northwesterners to read my books. All I could say was thanks!

If you’re not familiar with the Cybils—they are reader nominated awards for the best in children/YA literature for the year. Bloggers read the nominated books, and in their wise and bloggerly fashion, choose winners. “We wanted a literary competition that combined the freewheeling democracy of the Internet with the thoughtfulness of a book club.” Anne Levy

The other surprise, which was much better than even winning a Cybil, is that my sweet mother told me that she has a wonderful daughter who always knows just what she wants. This may not sound amazing to you, but my mother is in the late stages of Alzheimers disease. She knows me, she loves me. How can I be anything but grateful? And it took writing this post to make me realize it.