Most of my days end up in sheer exhaustion, as juggling a dynamo of a toddler, a day job, and my writing career, leave me drained.
And most of the days all of these can be rather thankless. For example, my sales have been pretty meh this month, especially compared with last December’s. And I recently had a particularly bad collaboration with an abusive client. All of which has left me exhausted.
So, when I had a few welcome surprises lately, I decided to share with you in the hopes that they will cheer you up when it looks like nothing’s moving in the right direction!
We Love Kleidi
First of all, Mary Natalie, who was even naughtier than usual when she came home from school yesterday. She threw tantrum after tantrum and left both her mother and me utterly exhausted. Figuring out something must have happened at school, I kept prodding her to find out what.
Here is our dialogue:
“Kleidi keeps hugging me,” she complained.
In case you’re wondering, Kleidi is a lovely boy from preschool. “Don’t you want him to?”
“Yes.”
“Are you worried he might prefer Athena or Anelia [her frenemies] instead of you?”
“No!” She waved at me dismissively. “He’s mine.”
Poor Kleidi, I wonder if you even know it, I thought, but said nothing. “Then what’s the problem?”
“But I love you, Daddy!”
I had to chuckle at this. As it turns out, not only does my 3year-old have her first crush but she was highly stressed because she was afraid of hurting my feelings when I found out! I gave her a bear hug and explained that it’s perfectly okay to love other boys as well and that I like Kleidi–which I genuinely do. In fact, he’s one of the loveliest boys I’ve ever seen, so now I know she has good taste in boys. “So, we love Kleidi,” I ended up saying. “But if you don’t want him to hug you, just tell him so. And if he insists, tell your teacher.”
“We love Kleidi,” she agreed and ran to bed–where, for the first time in ages, she wanted to cuddle with me instead of her mom, and asked me to read her a story.
Valiant Smile Gets Recognized
The second surprise had to do with Valiant Smile, the third book in my children’s books series, Mystery Smiles, and the first one to be published in Greece by Patakis Publishers. A friend notified me that she had seen it listed among a selection of the “12 best books for Christmas for kids and teens” published by the newspaper Proto Thema.
Also, it was listed among Greece’s best books you can buy this Christmas as selected by the prestigious Talk Magazine!
I can’t wait for Dimitris to finish the English version so that I can finally make it available on Amazon!
Istomedia Wins Award
You know me as an author, but my day job is that of web designer and Internet marketer. So, it was a wonderful surprise to find out a couple of days ago that Bark awarded my company, Istomedia, with its prestigious Certificate of Excellence award!
This is a great honor and I promise to do my best to keep up the good work!
harmonykent said:
Great good news and an adorable post, Nicholas. Happy Holidays and all the best for 2019 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you so much, Harmony! Wishing you a lovely one 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
hilarycustancegreen said:
Lovely post. I will mention the Mystery Smiles series to my niece, her 18 month old is half Greek and will be bi-lingual.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Nicholas C. Rossis said:
That’s wonderful; thank you! I think she might be a bit too young for Valiant Smile, though, as it’s best enjoyed by children ages 7-13. Mind you, I really appreciate the thought!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Charles Yallowitz said:
Congrats on all the good news. Hope more is on the way. Though you might want to stop the hippodonkey from eating beans if it’s that bad.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nicholas C. Rossis said:
We’ve been talking to him about his bean addiction. So far, it hasn’t made much of a difference. I’m thinking it’s time for an intervention.
LikeLike
Charles Yallowitz said:
Get him some anti-gas medicine.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nicholas C. Rossis said:
We have but he refuses to take it. Why do you think the rest of the animals were ganging up against him in that photo?
LikeLike
Charles Yallowitz said:
They do it because they love him.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Tough love–the best kind.
LikeLike
gibsonauthor said:
Very nice news!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thanks! Much needed, too 🙂
LikeLike
Staci Troilo said:
Oh, Nicholas. I’m so happy for you! The certificate of excellence and the book recommendation must be so gratifying. But nothing beats the love of a child. Your daughter is precious. What a lovely way to ease into a holiday and end a year.
Wishing you and yours all the best.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you so much, Staci! There are still 10 more days until the year’s end, so the worrier in me keeps waiting for the other shoe to drop, but you’re right–it was really nice 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Staci Troilo said:
No other shoes dropping. Just enjoy!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nicholas C. Rossis said:
🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Willow Croft said:
I’d love it if you could do a time-management-tip post! LOL (If I missed it, or forgot, don’t hold it against me. 🙂 )
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Lol–thanks! I have posted a few, actually, but I think they were all guest posts. No time to write one of my own, I guess 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Willow Croft said:
Hee, yeah. I hit some of the teachers up at the school for some time management tips. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Good idea. If anyone knows about time management, it’s teachers! Merry Christmas, Willow 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Willow Croft said:
Happy xmas!
LikeLiked by 1 person
kimwrtr said:
Congrats on the good news, Nicholas. As for sales, I’ve heard from many author how they’re down more this December than last. It has something to do with the influx of Trad ad money. Those who do AMS ads have paused them. Next year will be better. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you for sharing that, Kim! I haven’t actually paused all of my Ads. Thankfully, there are still dozens of Ads giving me a nice ACoS, but I have found myself pausing several more that used to be profitable and had turned into loss-makers.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Deborah Jay said:
Congratulations Nicholas – keeping up with all the threads of life is such a challenge, and so lovely to be rewarded like this!
Have a good Christmas, and a even better New Year
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you so much, Deborah! Merry Christmas to you and yours 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Marina Costa said:
Kala Hristougenna! Harika n’akouso ta nea sou.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Χρόνια πολλά, Μαρίνα! Εύχομαι ό,τι καλύτερο 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
V.M.Sang said:
Great news about your business, and what a lovely story about your daughter.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you! The business news was a particular surprise, to be honest 🙂
LikeLike
tracikenworth said:
Reblogged this on Loleta Abi.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: Some Good News – Where Genres Collide
tracikenworth said:
Congrats, Nicholas! How wonderful! Love the tale of your daughter as well!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you so much, Traci! Merry Christmas 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Michelle Morrison said:
Congratulations on the good news. The story about your daughter is precious. Children are a lot of work but a lot of fun. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you so much, Michelle! May your Christmas be filled with wonder 🙂
LikeLike
rijanjks said:
I’m playing catch-up from the holidays and just now had a chance to read this post. Children are so brutally honest at that age and her concerns were real (to her). The two most difficult things you’ll ever do in life is to be in a meaningful relationship and raise children – you’re doing both, my friend! Congrats on the good news. I hope you had a very Merry Christmas and here’s to a prosperous New Year!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you so much, Jan! You too!
My mother’s present was a book about raising a child. As I feared, it made the missus really insecure about everything, so I was just telling her the same thing you’re telling me: raising a kid is too hard a job to be boiled down to a recipe book 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
rijanjks said:
So true, Nicholas. But, you can get lots of suggestions and new insights from the “recipe” books. 🙂 Trust me, we’ve all been that insecure parent.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I know. I think it’s actually a rite of passage among new parents 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
jjspina said:
Congratulations, Nicholas! That’s wonderful! Happy New Year! 🎉🎊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you so much, Janice! May 2019 bring you nothing but joy 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
T. R. Robinson said:
Congratulations on having your book recognised. Hope it leads on to further success for you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thanks! I certainly hope so 🙂
LikeLike
Rae Longest said:
Congratulations on all your current victories and accolades–you certainly deserve them. Most congrats on your lovely relationship with your daughter.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you, Rae! I love that you focused on the really important stuff in my life 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person