GOOD NEWS

“I can do that too!” is a line from a younger sibling or previous failure at something.

When, at age eleven, after a number of humiliating jumps or falls or flops, I finally succeeded in going head-first off the high board, I turned to my friend and said, “Ha ha! I guess I can dive too.”

I paused for applause. He shrugged and said, “Took you long enough.”

I cannot count the number of times I have read that someone’s (maybe someone I know's) book has won an award or been optioned for a film or TV series. I’m always pleased. I want my friends to do well. And good news is not a zero-sum game. Them getting good news means that there is good news out there. Maybe I’ll get some too, so I can post about it.

And now … ahem … I can. At The Speed Of Gus just received a seriously positive review from Kirkus.

Pause for applause

On a more serious note, relating to something I said in an earlier post, my feeling when I heard about the review was not joy but relief. I have not failed the publisher. I have not let anyone down.

I’d post a link to the review but I know you won’t bother to check. Of the approximately skadey-eight-thousand posts I have read, I have followed up on exactly none of them. I just wanted y'all to know that I can do it too.