Happy June, everyone!

I'm sure it's no surprise that this is one of my favorite months as a teacher. Wrapping up the school year is excellent, but the real reason I love this month is it offers a sense of celebration and closure to much of the year and though it is the sixth month of the year, it almost feels like New Year's Eve all over again. Everyone seems to be celebrating something. Graduation, end of the school year, moving, awards ceremonies all conspire to make this a time of parties and hugs. Part of this is overwhelming, but at the end when everyone is getting in their cars and lingering in the parking lot to wish others good luck, we vow to do it all over again.

This culture of closure prompts us to stop, appreciate, and reflect on another spring of accomplishments. This past week I've seen some of my students for the last time, giving hugs and best wishes as they leave my classroom. I also went to my school's eighth grade dance for the first time and enjoyed looking around at all the student dressed up and enjoying themselves, happy to see their teachers and excited to be at school with friends. Tomorrow I leave to celebrate and support an incredible young lady at National History Day in College Park, Maryland, and today I helped with the Virginia Romance Writer's Annual Awards Luncheon.

New York Times Bestselling Author, Grace Burrowes gave an empowering speech, reminding all of us that life is a substantial obstacle to achieving our dreams, but it is that very life from which we can draw the most powerful memories. What we see as another thing on the to-do list will often become a memory we cherish. Too often, we focus on what we should be doing instead of what we are doing. Grace told the story of how she was doing the same thing on just another Saturday morning with her daughter when it turned dangerous and later inspired the opening scene in one of her most popular books. According to Grace, that scene grabbed readers by the heart because they could relate to the feelings of a parent when their child is in danger. As anyone who has looked back at their life and smiled at memories knows, what we once considered mundane can often become extraordinary. Life is hard, so it is worth celebrating, and that is just what we did today.

We all listened to wisdom from Grace, ate lunch, and chatted about our books and plans. Just as Grace pointed out, the romance writing tribe exists in a post-capitalist society before the time of post-capitalism where there are enough readers to go around, and everyone cheers on everyone else. When I revealed my book, The Secret About Time, is coming out on August 13th, people around me cheered and applauded. We do not look at our peers as competitors and instead lift each other, those in front reaching behind to offer a helping hand. I find this incredibly helpful as a quick conversation with Alleyne Dickens, Donna Dalton, and Katie Baldwin can provide more accurate information on publishing than a solid hour on Google.

I watched the presentations of the winners for the Virginia Romance Writers two awards. When we got to the Holt Medallion, an award for excellence in published romance, someone leaned over and said in my ear, "You'll be able to enter in December."

That kind of support is well-worth celebrating.

Cheers,

Kathryn