A to Z Blog Challenge 2024 The Letter K, Kindred Spirit

Today’s letter is K. As an author, an introvert, and essentially not the most secure person in the world, the one thing I need more than anything else is encouragement. I get some of that from my family, my spouse, my friends, those who read my books, especially those who leave reviews, and those who read my blogs and comment on them, but it isn’t always enough. Not to sound needy, but not even my husband of 52 years understands the demons I fight as an insecure writer. For that sustenance, I rely on a friend I have never met in person, one I’ve never spoken with, and yet the one person who knows me almost better than I know myself. She lives in Romania while I live in Canada, essentially 7,000 km apart, and yet we are closer than people living next door to me. Melinda is my kindred spirit.

What is a kindred spirit? It’s someone who shares the same opinions, feelings, and interests as you do. Melinda and I met several years ago when we both had the misfortune of being published by a small publishing house run by a scam artist. Of course, we didn’t know that at the time, but eventually she showed her true colors and left us all high and dry.

I’d met several other authors through my infamous association with Front Porch Romance, but the colleagueship Melinda and I forged didn’t vanish the way the others did. It grew and developed into a deep and lasting friendship, one we both depend on to keep us sane and grounded in the dog-eat-dog world of Indie publishing.

Anca is younger than my sister and my own children, but we meshed right from the start. We’ve both lost people over the past few years (her father, my parents) and shared our grief as well as our joys at accomplishments in both our personal and professional lives. We’ve also developed a symbiotic relationship. While I edit the books she publishes under two pen names, (check out her out here: https://melindacolt.com/ and https://melindadeross.com/) she’s not only my sounding board but my cover artist. You can find out all about her artistic abilities here. https://www.coveredbymelinda.com/

Despite the six-hour time difference, we communicate via Messenger daily, sometimes discussing the weather and the state of the world, at others sharing funny memes, jokes, and pictures, or talking about what we’ve done that day or what we plan to do the next. I frequently bounce ideas off her about plots, characters, and potential scenes, always grateful for her input. She’s also the one who gives me marketing advice, although truth be told, I don’t always take it simply because I hate marketing. I’m trying to change that, as she knows, but this old dog is slow at learning new tricks.

I do know that if it weren’t for her, I would probably have given up writing after the fiasco with the publisher. She kept me going, making me see that somewhere out there, I had readers waiting for my next book. When I’m down, she cheers me up as I try to do for her. She is my best friend, my kindred spirit, and I don’t know how I would manage without her in my life. In my small way, I tried to honor her I fashioned the main characters in two of my books after her.

Check out my website for links to purchase:https://mhsusannematthews.ca/

She made the covers for the books, too! Love you, Melinda!

Come back tomorrow to read my post for the letter L.

Check out blog posts from other participants here: https://tinyurl.com/w54yupwe