Gratitude by June Shaw

Why shouldn’t I be grateful?

My five grown children are doing great. So are the eight grandkids they’ve given me. My love life is wonderful with the important man in my life. My mom, who moved in with me because of poor vision, recently turned 102. Willard Scott wished her happy birthday and said whenever music starts, she’s first on the floor. Her favorite dances are the Freeze, Macarena, and Chicken Dance.

I keep close ties with friends. My faith sustains me. God remains most important in my life.

After I retired from teaching English to junior high students, a job I enjoyed, I managed to fulfill a lifelong goal—I became an author! I wrote and finally polished a novel, RELATIVE DANGER, until it caught the attention of a publisher who bought it. Featuring a spunky young widow and a man she loves but tries to avoid so she can rediscover herself, my debut was nominated by Deadly Ink for their new David award for Best Mystery of the Year! Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and others also surprised me by giving it great reviews. My family loves my book. So do adults and teens. Harlequin bought reprint rights of RELATIVE DANGER for its mystery book club members and then sold out. A large-print edition came out recently and I sold audio rights. Books in Motion will create an audio version.

I sold my book’s sequel! KILLER COUSINS will be out in January. I’m working on the third book in the series.

Readers and editors surprised and thrilled me with their enthusiasm about work I’ve loved to create. What makes my achievements especially important are the battles my children and I faced to reach this point. My five children were five to eleven years old when their father died. To provide for them, I put off my goal of writing so that I could finish college. I then taught for twenty years.

Finally I’m fulfilling my lifelong dream. My family is proud. How could I not be grateful!


RELATIVE DANGER is available at many bookstores, my Web site,
www.juneshaw.ccom (where readers can register for prizes and see my mom doing the Macarena for her 100th birthday), and online sites such as Amazon. Keeping the mysteries in the family, KILLER COUSINS make its appearance in January.