This Christmas, God tied my present up with a big silvery bow and presented it to me early. It was the gift of wonder.
We feel wonder frequently when we’re little ones: discovering a four leaf clover in our own front yard, feeling the fragile softness of a baby kitten in our hand, seeing the lights of the Christmas tree we just decorated go on for the first time of the season.
Most of us experience that balance of awe and warm happiness less and less the older we get. It still comes in giant stages—I remember exactly how I felt when I realized I was in love with someone I could spend the rest of my life with and when I saw my first sonogram of my daughter. But our adult daily lives are too often busy surviving the stresses of reality.
However, this Christmas, I became an author. And as I saw my book in print on ebook and then held it in my hands for the first time, I was filled with amazement and joy. What’s more, like many Christmas presents, I was able to share this one with my family, not just the sister who got both my mother and I writing, but the rest of the group of people I love, who have given mom and I so much support as we struggled through the phases of getting a book published.
Not very many people get to experience such pure satisfaction in their lifetimes. I have wanted to be an author since I was very little and have never been more fulfilled than seeing my own words come together the right way. But like most people, I allowed my adult realities to block out even the possibility.
And that, dear readers, is the source of the wonder. To believe again, as I did when I was small, that I can do anything if I look for the right path. To believe again, that good things do happen on their own—the world is not meant to be a cruel place. I know I was lucky to have found the right publisher; to have a sister that believed in herself enough to become a children’s book author; to have been born to a woman of creativity and a man who would support me even if I’d decided gutting fish was my calling in life. I also know I am blessed with a happy marriage and a happy teenager (yes, it can happen!).
But I also know that what I feel when I see my book is a gift.
I wish I could pass it along to every person who reads these words. But that’s now how it works. Instead, I just want to say: find your own path to wonder. It can be a rocky road, but none of those rocks is big enough to prevent you from moving forward if you’re driven by passion.–Genilee Swpe Parente

Twist of Fate is now available in both print and ebook at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. The first author signing event occurs Monday, December 17 at Victoria Apartments, Woodbridge, Virginia. AND CHECK OUT THE INTERVIEW ON ALLYN STOTZ’s BLOG: http://allynstotz.blogspot.com/2012/12/author-interview-f-sharon-swope-and.html.

Thanks, Allyn!