Of Lotteries, Cell Towers and Publishing Contracts

I will not waste my money on lottery tickets. I’ve always said: If God wanted me to win the lottery He’d give me a ticket. So when I received a ticket as a party gift I just knew that I was about to win. I waited anxiously for days until the winning number was announced.

Nope, I didn’t win, but I wasn’t out a dollar either.

It would be nice if money could just fall in our laps, wouldn’t it? We had just moved into Big Pine Lodge in January of ’07 when a man drove up our half mile long driveway and asked us if we’d be willing to have a cell tower on a small part of our land, far, far from our house. Five hundred bucks a month. Wow, free money. In our laps.

Of course we said yes. Papers were signed, surveys were done and then the economy dived. We’re still waiting for that cell tower. So far all that’s fallen into our laps from that deal are two $50 checks.

What’s the lesson here? (As a former teacher I need there to be a lesson.) Here it is: Free money isn’t free. Work for what you want. I wanted to be published, but the publishers said I needed an agent first and the agents said I needed to already be published. Solution: self-publish, work for it. If God wants me to be published by a traditional publishing company it’ll happen.

Of course, if a big publisher wants one of my books, let’s say it's EDGE OF ESCAPE, then I’ll have to take the self-published version off Amazon. I think that might make the original copies worth something because for sure it’ll get all changed up . . . probably won’t even have the same title.

Now I’m not saying that this is a done deal . . . yet . . . but if you want to read it this year, hint, hint, better get a copy this month before I have to pull it. Because I trust God to make things happen. Eventually.