In Gratitude

Wednesday, November 21 ~ Albuquerque, New Mexico


I'm sitting at my kitchen table on this day before Thanksgiving, the wind outside my window blowing the last of the warm weather away, contemplating the cornucopia of blessings in my life for which I'm grateful.

Despite all the upheaval in my life and in the world around me, the blessings are still limitless.

The first on my mind, for I leave in a few minutes for the two-and-a-half-hour drive to pick her up, is my daughter, who will join me here in Albuquerque for Thanksgiving this weekend.

This is our first Thanksgiving together as just the two of us and the first time since her mother and I separated that I have a home of my own to welcome her into. I'm profoundly grateful for her presence in my life and for the home I'm now able to share with her.

This time last year, still on the road and about to spend my second consecutive Thanksgiving with my friends Bob and Diana Mitchell in Michigan, I could not have begun to imagine all the unexpected gifts this year would bring, among them:

• a home of my own after 30 months of full-time travel...and the arrival here in Albuquerque, a month after mine, of one of my closest friends -- who now lives a five-minute walk away.

• a home in the foothills of (and with a view of) the Sandia Mountains, which have inspired and uplifted me from the moment I first saw them nearly three years ago. (In fact, my very first place drawing was of the Sandias.)

• the long-awaited publication of my novel, The MoonQuest, not to mention the two awards it has already garnered and the glimmerings of interest in my screenplay adaptation of the book.

• the imminent publication of a second book, The Voice of the Muse: Answering the Call to Write and the production of its companion CD. (I'll have more to say about these in a newsletter in the next week or so, when I'll unveil its amazing cover...though you can get a small-size sneak preview on MySpace.)

• all the wondrous and miraculous ways I have been taken care of, even as I've let go most of the touring, teleconferences and private sessions that were my financial mainstay on the road.

There is so much more...too much to enumerate. But I can't complete my incomplete list without mentioning you. Through all the radical shifts and transformations in my life and, no doubt, in yours over the past year, I'm enduringly grateful that you are still in my life, part of my creative and spiritual family.

Whether or not you celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow, I wish you an abundance of all that would bring joy and gladness to your heart -- today, tomorrow and every day.

Photo by Mark David Gerson: Sunrise over the Sandias

On the Air with Mark David

Tuesday, November 20 ~ Albuquerque, New Mexico

Through the miracle that is the internet, I'm able to share with you two recent radio/podcast interviews.

The first, aired back in October and produced by Authors Access, talks about how to get through and past writer's block. You can listen to it here.

(I have lots more to say about writer's block in my upcoming book and companion CD set, The Voice of the Muse: Answering the Call to Write.)

The second, aired earlier this week and part of the Authors On the Air series hosted by the irrepressible Marlive Harris, is free-range talk about writing, including how I came to write The MoonQuest. You can listen to it here.

Please check them out and let me know what you think!

Paying More Attention

Friday, November 2 ~ Albuquerque, New Mexico

Sometimes messages come to me through insects and cars, sometimes through dream.

Sometimes, they come in dream shorthand -- through snatches of song that flit and flutter through my consciousness (or repeat insistently) as I wake up in the morning.

This morning's was the latter, an Elton John lyric that is still looping through my mind hours after I opened my eyes.

For you and I have a guardian angel...

It's the second consecutive morning I've been awakened by these reassuring words from the song "True Love," and they remind yet again me that as I pay attention, I am taken care of...magnificently.

Yesterday's guardian angel message, for example, arrived shortly before I learned that The MoonQuest had been named a finalist in a national book award!

"How can I doubt?" I ask myself....even as, in my humanity, I still sometimes do.

The MoonQuest Wins National Award!

Thursday, November 1 ~ Albuquerque, New Mexico

The MoonQuest: A True Fantasy by Mark David Gerson has been named a finalist in the Visionary Fiction category of the 2007 Best Books Awards.

The national awards, sponsored by USA Book News, the premiere online magazine and review website for mainstream and independent publishing houses, were announced today in Los Angeles.

This is the second award for The MoonQuest, which was a New Mexico Discovery Award winner for unpublished fiction in 2006.

The MoonQuest is available online through Amazon.com, where it's a five-star selection, and coast-to-coast in the U.S. at selected retailers.

Recent reviews have praised The MoonQuest as "an evocative and emotionally moving tale of adventure" (Midwest Book Review) and "an exceptional, timeless novel" (The Mindquest Review of Books).

Mark David's newest book, The Voice of the Muse: Answering the Call to Write, will be published in February 2008 by LightLines Media. For Mark David's upcoming book-signings and events, visit booktour.com/author/mark_david_gerson.

At this writing and for a limited time, The MoonQuest is available at a discounted price through Amazon.com