A Letter to My Fellow Authors

Dear Fellow Wordsmiths:

As several of you know (and most of you don't care) I have an exciting, heart-stopping day job. I am a CPA who specializes in audit. Auditors are beloved by all (or maybe it's abhored--I get the two confused). But the point is, you have to act professional and people assume you know a lot about complicated stuff that nobody can pronounce.

That's where I was yesterday when I got the email: Choosing Charity, the third installment in my Faith, Hope, & Charity trilogy has been accepted by CFI.

I wanted to do the happy dance accompanied by a couple of banshee hollers for good measure. I mean, it's my book and it's been accepted!
If you bust a dance move and engage in general merriment whilst acting in the capacity of an auditor, the client gets nervous.

So I calmly walked into the controller's office and said quietly. "I'm going to share something with you that no one else knows."
Having captured his attention, I followed up wiith, "I just got word my 4th book has been accepted for publication!"
He blinked and said, "I got a new refrigerator."

I had to force a smile until I remembered, I can make this audit really difficult for him [evil, maniacal laughter erupts in my brain]

I called my husband who, like Mary Poppins, is practically perfect in every way. (Except he doesn't carry a carpetbag and has way too many speeding tickets.)

"Choosing Charity has been accepted for publication!" I gush.

"Wow, that's great. You'll make, what--five or ten cents an hour?"

I'm revoking his Mary Poppins status and grounding him from my Camaro.

Such is the support I had--or didn't have--so I'm turning to you all. The few, the proud, the people who work for pennies per hour.

MY BOOK HAS BEEN ACCEPTED FOR PUBLICATION!!!!

[Bustin' dance moves, fracturing a hip, trying to find my car keys]

Carry on!

Terri Ferran