How to Make a Writer's Day

Happy Poetry Friday! I share a poem at the end of this post along with a link to this week's Poetry Friday roundup. 

As April mentioned when she kicked off this series of posts, our first topic of the year was inspired by the 2025 Tournament of Roses Parade's theme, "My Best Day Ever!" Of course, back when we planned the topic, we had no idea that it would be a challenging one given all that's going on in the world. But perhaps Providence was at work, because I can't imagine a better time to focus on being thankful for good things, which is crucial to the Best Day theme.

Like Zeena, I can think of many personal Best Days, such as my wedding day, the birth of my son, his wedding day, etc. I've also been blessed with many writing-related Best Days. Highlights of those days include graduating from Vermont College, being offered a contract for my first novel, and having a packed house for my first-ever book signing at my local independent bookseller. But my most recent writing-related Best Day was completely unexpected and happened just last Friday, January 31. It's related to my latest publication, a true story in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Tales of Christmas: 101 Stories of Holiday Joy, Love and Gratitude edited by Amy Newmark. The book was released in October 2024, but it continues to bless me in surprising ways. Before I describe last Friday's Best Day event, I need to provide some backstory.

Finding out last summer that my story, "A Life-Changing New Year's Tradition," would be included in Tales of Christmas was itself a writing "Best Day." I've submitted pieces to Chicken Soup multiple times but have been accepted only once before--a poem in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teens Talk High School, 101 Stories of Life, Love, and Learning for Older Teens edited by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Amy Newmark, & Madeline Clapps back in 2008. I'm not sure if the paperback is still in print, but the book is still available as an ebook.

Despite it's title, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Tales of Christmas features stories about events beginning with Thanksgiving and running through Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s Day. My story is about our family's tradition of keeping a Good Things Jar and how the jar helped me through an especially difficult time. 

When my copies of the book arrived, I was honored to discover that my piece is the last one in the collection. But then I thought, maybe the honor wasn't that great, since the book contains only two New Year's stories. 😄 

If you read my latest Creativity Newsletter, you already know that the publication of Tales of Christmas led to an interview in our local newspaper. (If you don't get my quarterly newsletter and would like to subscribe, you can do so here.) I was quite surprised by the newspaper's interest--I've sent them press releases in the past without ever receiving a response. But I was even more surprised on Sunday, December 15, when I opened my copy of the paper to find the photo I'd provided on the front page! 

Photo taken by John Martino

I learned in the article that the reporter had also interviewed Amy Newmark, the book's editor. He asked Amy about the Chicken Soup selection process and how she chose my piece. Here's an excerpt from his article:

“I love to put some New Year’s stories in our Christmas book,” Newmark said. “I liked Carmela’s story, which is a twist on the more conventional approach to gratitude, which is to have a journal. The gratitude jar. What’s great about it is it makes you approach every single day with a different perspective. You start looking for the good things instead of the bad things.... I can see hundreds of people doing that because they read it in her story,” Newmark said.

Martino’s story is the last one in the book.

“I like to end the book with a nice, strong story. You finished Christmas, here’s a great idea to put you on a positive footing for the new year,” Newmark said.

Wow! Reading Amy's comments gave me another Best Day! I loved learning about how she chose my story and why she ended the book with it. But the blessings related to the publication of "A Life-Changing New Year's Tradition" didn't stop there. Several friends I hadn't connected with in some time contacted me after seeing the article. My friend Gayl, who had moved to Minnesota, must have read the article online, because she emailed to congratulate me. She also said that her library had ordered Tales of Christmas, and she couldn't wait to read my story. 

And that, at last, brings me to what happened last Friday. Out of the blue, I received a text from Gayl saying that her library finally got Tales of Christmas. She wrote, "I loved your story and its message," and said that she and her husband had decided to start their own Good Things Jar. Her text made my day! She had verified Any Newmark's comment that my story would inspire readers to create their own Good Things Jars. I was thrilled to know that my story had touched someone so much that they'd been moved to action. 

Gayl ended her text with "Thanks for the lift!" But her message had lifted me, too, giving me another "Best Day." (And something great to share in my post for this series!) Of course, I included a note about her message in my own Good Things Jar. 😄

Now, for the poem I promised. Some of you may recall that, back in December 2021, I participated in the Kidlit Winter Poem Swap. I had the pleasure of swapping poems, and a small gift, with Linda Mitchell. My gift to Linda included a glass jar I'd decorated and labeled for her to use as a Good Things Jar and two poems. I've copied one of those poems below. I believe it fits well with our Best Day theme of gratitude. What do you think? 

        Good Things

    A morning walk
    beneath blue skies.
    A cardinal calling
    as it flies.

    A smiling stranger
    holds a door.
    A new museum
    to explore.

    The patter of
    much-needed rain.
    A breath of air
    that's sweet again.

    A lovely dinner
    with a friend.
    A stunning sunset
    at day's end.

    The flavor of a
    favorite tea.
    A comfy chair
    and time to read.

    Record these joys
    on little cards
    and save them in
    your Good Things jar.

    © 2021 Carmela A. Martino. All rights reserved.

 

Don't forget to check out this week's Poetry Friday roundup hosted by Carol Varsalona at Beyond LiteracyLink.

Happy writing!

Carmela