All it takes is one person to change the world … or someone’s life

So, I’m checking out my publisher’s Google Group site the other night, seeing what was new, when I came across this ditty from a fellow author that quite literally made me leap from my cozy spot on the couch and yell, Holy Shit!  Oh, My God! Seriously?  and then this huge grin spread across my face that I couldn’t get rid of until I fell asleep about 3 hours later. (Even then I think I was still smiling.) My husband and I were watching Colony at the time (have you guys been watching that?  Love love love Josh Holloway and the show is so goooood). Anyway. I digress.  It was during a commercial when I checked the site on my phone and I actually had to turn the sound down on the t.v. and loudly announce what I’d just read to my hubby. I then bounced like a jackalope into my son’s room and said, “Ya gotta read this!” I paused his video game, and being the rebel that he is, read the post, then smiled, then laughed, then high-fived me.

So what got me all flipping yippy yappy and leaping like a unicorn over rainbows?

This little message.  And keep in mind, my book isn’t even out yet.

“Sometimes it’s the unexpected things that happen that make your day…

Today my son got “caught” reading an ARC of In the Shadow of the Dragon King during his free reading time at school. His advanced reading teacher pointed out that it was not on the “approved” reading list for advanced readers.(He needs to read so many “points” of books a month to stay in advanced classes). My son, quite tired of all the “boring” books they offer said: “It’s not even out yet, how can I get it on the list?”The teacher challenged him to read the book for fifteen minutes and give examples of vocabulary words and complex sentences to prove that the writing is “at or above” his reading level.  Dude found EIGHT vocabulary words and several examples of advanced sentence structure and symbolism in the first twenty-ish pages of the book. Congrats, J.Keller Ford. IN THE SHADOW OF THE DRAGN KING is being added to the approved reading list as of next week.”

Did you see that? Did you?  The approved reading list. My soon-to-be novel was accepted by this particular county’s AR Program.  The more I think about it, the more I glow like a lightning bug in a radiation lab.Yep. Me. My book.

Uh huh. Dude changed my world and my life with this one act of kindness.

I’m telling you folks. All it takes is one person to change the world or someone’s life. Never, ever miss an opportunity to share, to talk to people. To stand up for something. You could be the key to changing everything.

To my fellow author’s son – Dude you are the bomb! You have put a smile on my face that I won’t be able to erase for days, maybe weeks. I wish I could hug you and carry you around with me as my good luck charm, but that would be kind of creepy since you’re human and under the age of 18. All I gotta say is keep writing, keep reading, and keep changing the world. You are a rock star!!