After the last couple of weeks, I’m in a state of positive shock.
As writers and creative people, most of us get used to a life of steady struggle. And we keep striving and creating, anyway, because we love it.
But the first half of this month was amazing, and I’m still reeling!
The Hallmark Movie Watch Party
It’s not every day a book I wrote becomes a movie, so I was very excited to see A Knight to Remember, the Hallmark movie based on my book Her Knight at the Museum. I rented a party room at the community golf club down the street and invited people to come eat pizza and watch with me. Some family members and friends made plans to come in from out of town!
I hadn’t seen the script, which I knew would veer sharply from the book, but that didn’t stop me from creating a bingo game with prizes. (I guessed correctly that pumpkin spice lattes would make an appearance in the film.)
In the week leading up to the party, part of me was regretting the whole thing. I hadn’t thrown a party in years. What if nobody came? What if my laptop didn’t hook up properly to the giant TV—even though we did test it? What if the restaurant forgot to make all the pizzas I ordered? What if people had a bad time?
But I think it was a great party!
My mom, sister, and nieces came early to help set up, and they are so good at this kind of thing. Mr. Donovan’s brother, visiting from the East Coast, helped, too.
Lots of people came. I had to round up more chairs! It made me feel like, in the five years we’ve been in the Chicago area, we’ve made a lot of good connections.
During commercial breaks, I gave people behind-the-scenes info. And when I appeared as an extra in the background, everyone cheered!
Soon after that, I gave a keynote presentation and led a writing workshop at Hallmark Cards in Kansas City.
They had invited me as a guest speaker. I worked really hard on the presentation, which was about overcoming creative burnout and stepping into your most creative era yet.
I’m a full-time author, book editor, and blogger, but a few of you know that before that, I worked at Hallmark Channel in Los Angeles, and before that, for a very long time, I worked at Hallmark Cards in Kansas City. There were some strange circumstances regarding my transition from Hallmark Cards to Hallmark Channel, leaving me feeling a little sad. Of course, that kind of thing often happens when you work for a corporation.
Getting to visit and share my presentation meant so much to me.
The Hallmark creative community is honestly the kindest audience anyone would ever ask for. I got so much positive feedback about my presentation about overcoming toxic humility and negative false beliefs, and building new habits to support a creative life.
It meant a lot to reconnect with so many people, and I felt a strong sense of accomplishment and closure.
Have you ever had a party to celebrate a big win? What kinds of celebrations can you imagine in the future? I hope you have some that surpass your wildest dreams…sooner than you think! Thanks so much for reading, and have a wonderful week!
I’m so proud of you! And so happy we were able to work together in the “early” days!
Thank you so much, Liane! It really is a thrill. I’m so happy we got to work together!
How exciting!! Congratulations. 🥂🎉🥳
Thank you, Darlene!
I loved loved loved the movie, and at one point, my husband leaned over to me and said, “I love her friend, she should have her own movie!” I said, “Funny you should say that…”
Ha! I love that. Thank you, Stephanie! I’m so glad you loved the movie!
Hi Bryn,
Congratulations on the success of the Hallmark Movie screening! I look forward to watching it. After my first book was completed, I didn’t have a launch party or any type of celebration (well, maybe mentally). What I did, was treat myself to an executive style desk for my office. I’d wanted one for a long time and felt I deserved it at that point. Still have it and I am sitting at it right now. Have a wonderful day and thanks for the post.
Hi, Cheryl! Oh, I love your way of celebrating! That desk is a reminder of what you’ve accomplished every time you sit down to accomplish more 🙂 Thank you for sharing! I hope you have a wonderful week!
Hey everyone…I don’t know if anyone will see this, but I meant to mention that I missed WIP Wednesday for October in all the commotion! I’ll be doing it on Wednesday, November 4, though!
The stuff of dreams-come-true! Thanks for sharing it with your fellow HEA dreamers.
Aww thank you! Hey, if it can happen to me, it can happen to others, too!
Congratulations! I read the book, but have not watched the movie. I saw it advertised and was excited for you.
Hi Carol! Thank you so much for reading the book! If you see the movie, I hope you like it. Have a great week!
I am so happy for you about these successes! I wish I could have attended your speech at Hallmark! I also wish I had been at the watch party! Glad you had help and a good turnout! You deserve every happiness!
How fun!!! Sounds like you’re staying very busy! Can’t wait to see the movie -forgot it was coming out. Congratulations all around! 🎉🥰
This is fantastic! I’m going to watch the movie to see you!
I imagine your work friends were 1. incredibly happy for you and 2. will have good use for your words of wisdom. I know 1 is true and 2 would be true for this one!
So happy for you!!! I love that you had a party to celebrate your success! I can’t wait to watch the movie and I tried the other night but it looks like unless I have Hallmark+, I will have to wait until after the Christmas movie season when their regular movies come back on to the schedule.