I had grand plans for my 10th wedding anniversary. I’m a wedding planner by day, so I’ve planned my share of vow renewals and celebrations over the years. As I envisioned my own 10-year anniversary, I thought I might throw a party with my family and friends in attendance. There was also the pie-in-the-sky thought of jetting off for a romantic getaway. Hawaii. Italy. Heck, even Wichita.

No, he didn’t smear the cake all over my face.

So here we are: the big day. And none of that’s happening.
Somewhere along the way, life intervened. Our daughter starts Kindergarten in a few days, and (as Fate would have it) we’ll probably be closing on our house that same day. We just held a garage sale and we’ve been packing a few boxes a night for the past week in an attempt to make the move less overwhelming. I’ve been to so many “meet the teacher” events that I feel as though she should already be on my Christmas card list.
And (oh, by the way), the Daughters of Saraqael Trilogy was published just under three weeks ago. While positively thrilled, my husband and I are only too aware that this is a critical time for sales and marketing efforts. Even as I compose this blog on my laptop, he’s sitting in front of the desktop formatting Becoming for CreateSpace so that we can offer it for purchase in paperback format. I madly want to get more writing done on the Firstborn Trilogy tonight and wonder if I’ll have time before I collapse.
Such is the way of things these days. Romantic, no?
I know very well that my husband hasn’t bought me so much as a greeting card for our anniversary. Will he? Probably. He’ll likely stop after work (or on lunch while at work) to grab something. Does it matter if he doesn’t? Not at all.
Because right now, when there are a million other things he could be doing, he’s working on formatting Becoming for CreateSpace. And because when we were pinching every penny to save for the new house, he told me to invest in the beautiful covers for my books. And because when I toiled for over a year to get agents to have any interest in my books, he never lost faith in me. Instead, he opted to invest his time and effort to create my website, learn how to format eBooks, research pricing and marketing methods for independently published authors, develop spreadsheets to track my sales and hold my hand as I learned to use social networking sites to do something with which I was both unfamiliar and uncomfortable…promoting my work.
What I’ve learned after ten years of marriage is that elaborate parties and fancy trips have their place, but they’re not reflections of our feelings for each other. The moments we’re experiencing together in just this month are much larger testaments to our love and continued commitment to each other than any store-bought gift. We’ve weathered our share of storms over the years, and I’m looking forward to facing whatever challenges come our way.
When the calendar flipped to August, my husband and I both realized we were staring our 10th anniversary squarely in the eyes. Rather than stress about it, we shrugged and said, “I’m buying you a house. Happy anniversary!”
Funny enough, though, we both had the thought of somehow tying our special day into the books that have come to mean so much to us. Amber, Olivia and Skye are like adopted children to us at this point. We want the world to enjoy their stories as much as we do. And since the books contain messages about love, they tie in perfectly with an anniversary celebration.
So, for our 10th anniversary, I’m offering the Daughters of Saraqael Trilogy for just $.99 per book for ten days. My husband calls it the “10 days for 10 years” special, and I think that fits the bill. Since the books will be priced at $2.99 after the sale ends on August 22nd, that makes it an even better deal!
A book promotion might seem like a strange way to celebrate ten years of marriage, but I can tell you from experience that things don’t often turn out like you expect them. In fact, they usually turn out better. I never expected to spend my anniversary packing up for a move and preparing my five-year-old for her first day of school while promoting my writing career…but I wouldn’t have it any other way.