However, I can’t stop being mom. Seven o’clock each morning, I have left and gone south past the high school to drop my eighteen-year-old off at work in a field where he is changing irrigation pipe. My thirteen-year-old earned a part in the local adult theater group’s Christmas play which means extra trips north throughout the week.

I have been so busy with school and family that several book events have fell to the side. Wednesday while at school, I had a moment to check email and saw a Twitter notice of a blog post. It was my post on Vox Dei’s webpage! I had forgotten it was to air that day. As my eighteen-year-old says, “Face palm!” The next day, I had another similar experience. I checked email just before lunch during my prep period and found a Twitter announcement of my cover reveal for The One Who Sees Me. How could I have forgotten that! I knew I needed to get a better grip on my calendar.

Saturday loomed big in my vision. I had to be ready for the book signing and release party of Dragon’s Future. My husband and eighteen-year-old would be off at a men’s retreat which left my nineteen-year-old and thirteen-year-old at home.

Grandprize packet of swag and a signed book went to a high school senior.

My thirteen-year-old and I enjoyed the Cranberry Parade at the local festival, and then we headed to the art gallery and used book store which was hosting the signing. After frantically trying to find parking, I was able to elicit help from some friends to carry books and supplies to the gallery. My three hours were fun and profitable. Many came through to purchase books, and I even met a journalist for the local paper who wants to do an author interview. We’ll see what happens.

In the meantime, I am ready for another week of school. I will try my hardest to be better at budgeting my time between family, school, and author work. It is a challenge this year, but it can be done.

Last weekend, I had the privilege of meeting my childhood friend for the first time since ninth grade. We had met on the playground in first grade. Our parents went to college and seminary together. We moved from Iowa to Washington at the same time. However, in the ninth grade, my family moved from Tacoma, Washington, to Colville, Washington, a little town north of Spokane in eastern Washington. From there, we moved to Oregon where I graduated from high school and met my husband. My husband and I settled down on the Southern Oregon Coast, while my friend settled down on the Olympic Peninsula. As I stopped by her parents’ house, I saw kids running around that matched pictures I had seen on Facebook of her kids. Could it be that I would see her? My delight was evident as was hers when we greeted each other with hugs. The bond had held the test of time. I would have loved to have more than forty minutes to talk, but those forty minutes will be cherished forever.

Friendships are important. They hold us together and make us who we are. As parents we want our kids to have the right friends. We tell them who they can or cannot hang out with. Our friends can build us up or tear us down. We need to be careful, even as adults, who we spend time with.

This theme of friendship winds its way through the Dragon Courage series. In book one, we meet a character who has chosen a friend who leads him down the wrong path. Cerulean thinks that his friend is good and kind, but somewhere along the way, he realizes his mistake. The story unfolds and you’ll have to read Dragon’s Future to find out what Cerulean does. Another group of friends is Kyn and Ruskya. As time progresses through the series, the two are more like brothers or an uncle and nephew. Kyn meets Braidyn in Dragon’s Future and later in Dragon’s Heir the two meet again. Their friendship stands the test of time. In Dragon’s Revenge, Kyn meets a new character and the two become fast friends, almost brothers.

Friends can be made at any time in life. Some come and some go, but the good ones stay with you through thick and thin. I hope you have at least one friend that is like that. If not, reach out to someone and try to be that kind of friend to them. Who knows you may make your own friend.