Only 100 Days Yahoo!!!

   So, for all of you who read yesterday's post Going Out of Business; Failure or Victory.  A new chapter has opened in my life.  I've thought about this for a while, but a few days ago, I knew.
    It's hard getting an affordable babysitter for all my kids.  Plus, my kids are wild and fun--they're rambunctious.  So, most the time when I sew, they stay with me.  The Scribe watches Doctor Jones, and The Hippie watches The Zombie Elf, but Sunday didn't go so well.  Things have been getting harder and I keep selling more and more.
   Last week, I'd sold a huge outfit, one that takes about twelve hours to make.  Anyway, while I sewed it, I suddenly realized I needed more thread.  I stood up, went to get more, and Doctor Jones sat on the pedal.
    My sewing machine whirred above her and that adventurer didn't even cringe. She just sat, smiling with a sucker in her mouth. 
    I was across the room, and even though I started running to get back in time, The Zombie Elf was too close.  He put his fingers near the vibrating needle, and . . . I barely stopped him from getting hurt.
    He looked at me and said something I'd yelled earlier that day, "This is too much!  I'm pissed!" he said and stomped away.
    That's when I knew, I need to quit. I don't care how much money it is.  I just don't care.  I took Doctor Jones off the pedal, but she cried, so I turned off my machine.  We unhooked the pedal and she's been hauling it around with her and sitting on it everywhere.  
    The Zombie Elf still doesn't know his fingers almost got sewn through. I knew a girl that happened to once.  I got to know her after the "accident."  I don't know if the accident turned her into a weirdo, or if she'd always been that way, but I refused to take a chance of that happening to my Zombie!
    Anyway, my sewing business has been a blessing in my life.  I was in business almost six years. I paid off my van, a good portion of my student loan from school.  It even helped us when the rain prevented Cade from working.  But with four kids, that part of my life needs to go on hold.  I'll take this opportunity to focus on my family (number one) and my writing (number two).  And as ironic as this is, it's exactly 100 days until my first book will come out.  I didn't realize that until yesterday.  Pretty cool if you ask me!



Release Date 11/18/11 (Zeke's Birthday)
My Journal about Zeke is currently in the review process. Yahoo!!!

    I've been working my butt off and so far, I've gotten two big name endorsements.  Here they are:

EC Stilson has opened her heart and life to us through the "entries" in this book.  She takes us step by step through the joys, challenges and heartbreaks of being a wife and mother. It is a powerful message of hope, not only to those who have lost a baby born with defects, but to everyone who has had their dreams shattered and had to find a way to put life together again.
-Bob Deits
author of “Life after Loss.”


EC Stilson’s, The Golden Sky is one of the most beautiful books I have read in a long time.  Perhaps the word “beautiful” seems an odd choice given that the book journals the details of the death of her baby boy and it’s aftermath—but it’s not just a book about that terrible loss.  It is a testament to courage, it is poignant and honest, it is funny and it is sad. Ultimately it is a story of transformation, growth and healing—of herself, her marriage, her family and her relationship with God.  EC’s style of writing is conversational and captivating, and with each turn of the page this book will touch your heart.
Pamela D. Blair, Ph.D. Co-Author, of the best selling classic, "I Wasn’t Ready to Say Goodbye: Surviving, Coping and Healing After the Sudden Loss of a Loved One"



    I asked Susan Kane from The Contemplative Cat, if she'd consider writing a review for my upcoming book.  Please check her out if you have a chance.  She's AMAZING!  

    Here's her review:

    We all know there are hard times and good times in our sojourn here on earth.  We think that losing the car keys, or breaking an arm is part of the hard times.  But we are wrong.  The events that fill up the “hard times” category are much harsher and demanding than can be imagined.

    Recently I was invited to review The Golden Sky by EC Stilson, who has become a fellow writer friend.  In this memoir of the precious, short life of her son Zeke, Elisa shares an unblinking look at herself, her husband Cade, decisions and struggles they both faced, and the on-going grief and rejoicing for their son Zeke.  It is at times a joyous read where I experienced a loving extended family that surrounded and carried each other through the birth and death of a child of God.  It is a heart-rending read where I saw the tearing-apart that grief can do to a marriage.  Yet, it is also a triumphant read where I saw faith and love, a fierce mother fighting for her children and her marriage. 

    Elisa is a fighter, as she says that her struggle is “…a game of bloody knuckles…”  She realizes that God is the one rock in her life when she writes “…even in the hardest times, we step back for a second, (and) we realize God is with us the whole time…”  Elisa realizes that she may have appeared to be so strong to others, but she knew that “…inside I’m dead, like smelly corpse or something…”

    This is an honest book, an unwavering journal of a young woman’s struggle to be the best mother and wife possible when the ground underneath her is shifting every minute. 

Susan E. Kane