I turned a full deck of cards today, except the entire pack is hearts. Yes. I must confess that I believe that age is only a number and I love my life the way it is. I believe I don't grow old...I just grow.
So last week I was contemplating on how to make this birthday memorable and I had an idea. I thought, why not celebrate by creating an ebook with posts from my blogger friends? I decided on the theme, predictably, "Collecting Smiles." And so, I announced it, inviting those interested to send me their favorite post from their blog in line with the theme. I wanted something that would make the reader smile, inspire a smile and generally feel good.
The response was overwhelming, far exceeding my expectations. I reveled in the love that poured in.
My goal was to have the book ready today, in time for my birthday.
However, around midnight last night, I had a brainwave. I thought, what if we uploaded this ebook as a free book on Amazon? We could list each contributor as an author and that would mean a dream come true for most of us. My lovely sis Vanita Cyril, and her daughter pledged their support for any help I needed and encouraged, I quickly let the contributors know of this idea, to see how they felt.
Again, the response was fantastic.
And so, I am now working on reformatting the book as per Amazon Kindle guidelines and there's be a slight delay of just a few days.
In the meantime, there's absolutely no reason to wait for the cover which was the first thing I made. You know what they say about the power of visualization - and looking at it every day for the past week has been such a source of motivation for me. I hope you like it as much as I loved making it. I stressed over size, effects, font and a whole lot of crazy stuff that only I can dream up - and finally here is the result. I wanted to create something that you'll be proud to show off in your blog's sidebar. Something that will stand out, something that will look gorgeous.
I've had a lovely day so far. I know I am truly blessed - I've had wishes from my classmates, my friends, my family, my son's school teachers, his classmates parents, his old classmates, my ex-colleagues ... what more could I possibly ask for? My phone's been ringing off the hook, my email spilleth over....and I am loving it. I am grateful!
Okay - without further ado - here is the cover of the ebook - a tribute to my vibrant community, a responsive community and most of all, wonderful human beings. Thank you everyone. I love you all very much!
Feel free to post this in your blog's sidebar with a "Coming soon" - and perhaps a link back here. No pressure on that though!
Let's now count down to the book! OUR Book!
Love
Vidya
P.S. Google and I share a Birthday. Can you believe my blog's url when I started blogging in 2003 was actually http://google-n-i-share-a-birthday.blogspot.com ? Truth.
