Hello everyone! Today I am so pleased to welcome author S.L. Armstrong who is here as part of the Storm Moon Press Anniversary Blog Tour.  She is talking with us about appreciating moments in life. She has also brought a great giveaway.  So please join me in giving S.L. a big welcome!

 Life Is Too Short to Waste a Moment

My post for our anniversary blog tour isn’t on the most high of notes. I love Storm Moon Press and have dedicated a lot of time, money, and effort into making it a success. A few months after our second anniversary blog tour, two new kittens came to make their home at Chez Storm Moon Press: Dorian and Basil. I love literary fiction, and The Picture of Dorian Gray has always been a favorite of mine (hence my Immortal Symphony serial I write with K. Piet). Dorian was an all black kitten while Basil rocked the tuxedo.

In between deadlines, cover art emails, typesetting, and releases, these two kittens grew and flourished. Dorian was my special cat, though. He would sit and watch me work, lay on me or my computer, and demand I spend time with him no matter what other pressing thing loomed. If there was a time of high stress in the household, K. Piet would bring him over to me, set him in my arms, and say, ‘Love your kittle for a while.’

A while is all I had. Twenty months after he was born, Dorian was taken from Chez Storm Moon Press. As a kitten, before he came to us, he’d been unknowingly exposed to the feline coronavirus, and his immune system was one of the rare cases that mutated the virus so it attacked his white blood cells. He developed Feline Infectious Peritonitis, something that is quick and fatal. We didn’t know it, though, and neither did our vet. Not until the very end. I did the only thing I could do to show that kitten how much I loved him: I let him go.

This has rocked us at Storm Moon Press. It’s been a devastating blow during a month of celebration. My father’s birthday, my wedding anniversary, and Storm Moon Press’ anniversary. It has darkened the month of January, left a cloud hanging over us as we try to put one foot in front of the other each day.

But there has been a few lessons I’ve learned throughout this ordeal.

Love like there is no tomorrow. Don’t hold onto anger or grudges. Don’t let a day go by where you don’t hug those around you, tell them how much you love them, and let them know how much they mean to you. People, pets, your stuffed animal. Revel in loving and being loved and cherish those moments.

Life is too short. I had eighteen of Dorian’s twenty months of life. While I know I never neglected him, that I spoiled him and showered him with attention, it was too short. Life is too short to spend it unhappy, angry, or miserable. It’s too short to squander opportunities for happiness. Write what you love, whether it’s popular or not. Write what you’re proud of. Life is too short to spend a moment of it regretting, so live your life true to yourself. Don’t let anyone lessen your skills, talents, loves, and life.

And finally, it doesn’t get better, it only gets easier. Loss is a terrible thing, and it will live inside your heart for the rest of your life. Nothing will make that better, but time will make it easier to live with. Take that loss and make something of it. In my case, I have a novel in the works with K. Piet to memorialize and celebrate Dorian’s brief but bright life with us. A young cat familiar with all of Dorian’s mannerisms, habits, and looks who falls for his much older warlock charge. Dorian, in the guise of my literary character, will gain immortality in this small way, and it’s my gift to him. My way of coping, of honoring, of living with the loss and making it easier.

So write what you love. Write it with passion. Share that passion with the world proudly. Love those around you. Don’t waste your time on hate and anger and intolerance. 🙂 Life’s too short, and we all need to make the absolute best we can of it before we reach the end of our journeys.

S.L. Armstrong is the co-author of Immortal Symphony: Overture and Making Ends Meet. You can find her at slarmstrong.net, on Twitter @_slarmstrong, or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/saundra.l.armstrong. She always loves to hear from readers!

This post is part of Storm Moon Press’ 4th Anniversary Blog Tour! Thank you for joining us, and please take a moment to enter our blog-tour-wide giveaway! The prize is receiving an ebook each month from SMP for 12 months! We hope to see you around the Internet and at RainbowCon in 2014! Happy New Year!

Giveaways

S.L. and Storm Moon Press are offering up two great giveaways today.  S.L. is giving away a copy of Immortal Symphony: Overture.  And Storm Moon is giving away free books!  Follow the Rafflecopter links below to enter.

SMP’s 4th Anniversary Rafflecopter Giveaway
S.L. Armstrong’s Immortal Symphony: Overture Rafflecopter Giveaway