Book clubbing

This week has been pretty eventful, and luckily I finally have the energy to put toward all things book. A few days ago, I submitted Lessons of a Wayward Yogini for consideration as a future selection for Richard Branson’s book club, Reading with Richard, on Literati. What a fantastic opportunity if I could but manifest. 

I know it’s an extreme long shot. I’m sure Literati receives thousands of submissions monthly, and I feel vulnerable even admitting that I sent my book in. 

A part of me thought about dismissing the idea of blogging about my newest endeavor; if I never heard back from Literati, no one would be asking me about it. But for better or worse, I committed a few years back to being vulnerable in my blog/book, and it seems to have brought me some beautiful experiences, so now is not the time to begin holding back. 

And I have to share that my favorite comments from readers have been when someone says, “hey, reading your book made me reconsider my goals and feel more confident about taking chances.” 

I recently learned about Literati, an exciting online book club that offers books for all ages. The club has 17 interesting luminaries that head different clubs that offer distinct genres and themes. They send a monthly book or books to their members and then provide several online meetings to discuss the month’s chosen book. Pretty cool, right?

And from a writer’s point of view, anyone can submit their writing/book for consideration as a featured writer, even if they haven’t been published. “A good story is a good story,” as their email said. I love this concept of opening a door for talent.

Many of my readers know I worked for Virgin America for seven years before their acquisition by Alaska Airlines. It was a great experience. My book a reality as opposed to remaining a line item on my bucket list has much to do with the can-do attitude I experienced at Virgin and the chance meeting of my writing coach at a seminar I attended during the last year at the company. 

I say, let’s add another chapter to this story, Richard!

And speaking of book clubs, Saturday afternoon is my first book club event with the delightful ladies that make up The Eclectic Book Club. It will be great fun to meet with the group after many years away. The evening will undoubtedly be filled with great discussion, food for thought, food for consuming, and I’m sure some excellent half bottles of wine. 

I have some humorous thoughts about arriving in some big get-up of an outfit, sunglasses, my hair piled high, maybe under a big hat, acting like some big shot, something like the picture above of me at four years old. 

Joking aside, the reality is that in this last week, anticipating this weekend, I have had flashbacks of one particular meeting I attended years ago with the girls of the EBC. We enjoyed a delicious meal and talked about the book of the month. 

I can clearly see myself sitting at the table in my mind’s eye, unaware that I would meet these same women to review my book one day. I am beyond humbled and appreciative of this journey. And all I can hear is my mom’s voice, “thank you, God… THANK YOU, GOD!”

In 2019 I wrote a blog post about my mom’s final days when she shared a prayer with her hospice worker and me. I am especially fond of this post. Here is the link if you’d like to read it. https://sueferrera.com/2019/01/26/thank-you-god-thank-you-god/