(January 11, 2015)

It couldn’t have been a more congenial audience for Cathy’s debut.

Demitasse Press kicked off the New Year with a book reception hosted by Peggy and Kate and attended by a dozen of the author’s friends. It was a cold, gray afternoon on a Sunday in January, but there couldn’t have been a warmer atmosphere inside. Cathy read a few short passages from To Do the Deal, A Novel in Stories, there followed a delightful and benign discussion of the book, and then the true highlight of the event began. That is: a discussion of novel writing as a model for the sequel we pursue as we head into and beyond middle age. Everyone in the room was at, above, or nearing fifty (except Cathy’s daughter Veronica, who came to take  charge of book sales). Question that arise at that mid-century point are, how far do I continue in my current career? What is the next  focus of my passion going to be? How do I get started on that journey?

Cathy’s friend Judy, back in Minneapolis, calls this “sequel seeking.” Our author has been heartened to realize that–despite the travails she is currently experiencing as an independent book publisher and marketer–the fact that she has completed and published a book at all is a marker on her trail. This definitive accomplishment keeps her going into the new alien terrain of promotion and distribution. As Cathy reminded the crowd, she started writing these stories in 2007, and it’s now 2015. “Whatever it is you plan to do with the rest of your lives,” she said, “start now, because it’s going to take a long time.”