Kathryn Amurra

I've spent a lot of time thinking about forgiveness over the course of my life, and as we start a New Year forgiveness is again on my mind.

It's easy to be thankful when all is well. It's when things are not going according to plan that it's hard to count our blessings.

Looking back at all the stories and rewrites and rejections, I am filled with joy and appreciation for how far I've come.

Last month I wrote about the best feeling in the world—being loved. This month I write about the worst feeling in the world—betrayal.

The best feeling in the world is to feel loved. It can right all wrongs and calm all fears. It is complete and utter bliss.

Perhaps I am a little vain for enjoying the control I possess when I write, but when I came upon this month’s quote, I realized there is a lot more to this desire to tell stories than just a power play.

July 1st marks the one-year birthday of this newsletter. When I sent out that first newsletter a year ago, I didn’t know if I would be able to hold to my unstated promise to send out a newsletter on the first of every month. Somehow, though, it all worked out, and here I am.

Over the course of my life, I’ve met a lot of people. I’ve seen a lot of actions taken and consequences ensue. The more I experience, the more I come back to a handful of old sayings I have heard over the years that I believe ring quite true. Here are my favorites...

With a third of the year behind us, I thought it would be good to take a look back at the literary resolutions I made at the beginning of the year to see how I’m doing so far.

The Greeks had several words for love, and we commonly hear about four of them: philia (friendship or affection); eros (romantic love); storge (familial love); and agape (selfless, unconditional, divine love). Any love, though, to be effective and complete, must have an element of sacrifice.

I celebrated my 47th birthday about a week ago, and birthdays have a tendency to make us think about our lives. Of course, the more birthdays you’ve had, the more life you have to think about.

One of the wonderful reviewers I met during the process of finding bloggers to promote my books is Julie, the creator of the blog One Book More. She is a kind person--and also very creative, hard-working, and downright interesting. So, naturally, I wanted to learn more about her!