Little Triumphs

by Marsha Ward

I've thankful for some little triumphs that I've been able to achieve this week. Tuesday was my wedding anniversary. As my Eternal Companion left me eleven years ago to move on to a new sphere of existence, I've very happy to report that I got through the day without blubbering. A few days later, I celebrated my marriage by purchasing something I've had my mind on for a while: an iPod Touch. This is more than an MP3 player. It's also a personal digital assistant with wifi capabilities, and can function well as an eBook reader.

It took me a couple of days and lots of patience to get the thing operational. First, I had to update my version of iTunes, which is the synching and set-up mechanism for the Touch. After the 88 megabyte download failed through my dial-up (and I know it was close) after hours and hours of guarding my connection, I was almost in tears. However, I went into town again and successfully downloaded the software. Actually, it took two tries, because I got diverted into another project first. My download was at 98% when the library turned off their router and booted all us patrons out for closing. Ack! I was considering sitting in a hotel parking lot to hijack a signal when it dawned on me that another business in town which was open had free wifi.

I sat in the ice cream parlor for several hours, downloading the software, and yes, eating a scrumptious banana split, and setting up the Touch.

Then, I had to download some books. I was able to grab a few before the clientele became boisterous and dark started coming on. Then I hightailed it for home.

Well, actually, I went to Wal*Mart and got a few things first, like a pink "Tiki" protective case for the Touch, and a few groceries. Once home, I downloaded other software I needed to make some adjustments in the process, and got to bed at 4 a.m.

I found some awesome free classics on the Internet. Now I'm set to read several books in my waiting-in-line time: "Five Little Peppers and How They Grew," "A Girl of the Limberlost," and "The Scarlet Pimpernel," among them. I can hardly wait.

That "other project" was uploading my new eBook trailer to YouTube. This video is to publicize the eBook version of THE MAN FROM SHENANDOAH, and can be found here.

Another small triumph is that I submitted a very small humorous story to an anthology edited by Nichole Giles and Cindy Beck that will be printed this coming week. It's called MORMON MISHAPS AND MISCHIEF: Hilarious Stories for Saints, and can be pre-ordered at Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com and other online booksellers. It will be in LDS bookstores around December 8.

It occurs to me that my small triumphs are analogous to writing. We plug along, having to be patient sometimes, until every element works together to produce a fine piece of writing. All the parts need to be there: the plot, the characters, the suspense, the dialogue, the romance, the setting, etc. When we finally have everything in place, we have a piece of work that will satisfy our readers. They can hardly wait.