COINCIDENCE? I THINK NOT.

The path to publication was paved with blessings. . .from the support of my family, friends, and the wonderful group of fellow writers in Madwomen in the Attic at Carlow University.

It was also paved with what some might call coincidences. Finding a small item in a newspaper or magazine that easily lent itself to being enhanced by my imagination. Meeting a wider and wider circle of fellow writers and making friends with them. Stumbling into history books that described oppressive regimes and the millions of deaths of the citizens of those regimes at the hands of their leaders.

Partnering with Glenn Beck! That was a wow event! I received the first contact from Mercury Ink while on a family vacation with all our children, their spouses, and all our grandchildren. Coincidence? No, a moment to celebrate surrounded by family.

All of that and more. . .coincidence?

It doesn't end there. I was recently at a local book store and I wandered over to the section of new releases. There it was! Agenda 21, Glenn Beck with Harriet Parke. I picked it up and ran my hand over the cover. A man standing next to me said "That's the book I was looking for."

"Really?" I said. "That's my name." I tapped my finger against my name.

He shared with me that he was from a town in Ohio and had wanted to come to the book signing near Pittsburgh but couldn't because he was on the road for his job. He was back on the road again and, according to him, his wife said he had to find Agenda 21 before he came home or she would 'kill' him. (I doubt if she would have actually killed him but he had sought out a bookstore in a sincere effort to please his wife.)

Coincidence? I think not. I hadn't planned to stop at that store while I ran other errands; it was an impulse that made me stop. A man from Ohio is in the Pittsburgh area and finds that particular store. We are at the same spot at the same time. He bought the book. I signed it for him.

Concidence? No. Blessings.