As Meg Ryan’s character, Kathleen Kelly, in the 1998 movie,
“You’ve Got Mail” says at the closing of her bookshop, “People are always
telling you that change is a good thing. But all
they're really saying is that something you didn't want to happen at all... has happened.” Well, not
to agree with a fictional character or anything, but change is an everyday
occurrence in everyone’s life, including the characters we write about. Change
is what drives the plot of any book.
Change is life.
We were all once babies. Babies are born; they grow; they go to school; they go
to college; they move into their own life, and the change repeats. Change
drives our own lives on a daily basis whether we recognize it or not. Why
wouldn’t it drive the characters we create? As Heraclitus said, “There is
nothing permanent except change.”
In 2012, I became Communications Director for Southern Writers
Magazine. At that time, the blog, Suite T had less than 350,000 views. Since
that time, Suite T has grown to 3.6 million views. The owner and editor of Southern Writers Magazine, Susan Reichert, has decided to close the magazine and will take over my duties on Suite T, February 1st, 2020. It has been a tremendous honor to work with so many wonderful authors
over the years. I will miss our daily interactions, but know this is not
goodbye because I’ll be reading all your wonderful future books.
As author, C. JoyBell C. says, “We can’t be afraid of change.
You may feel very secure in the pond that you are in, but if you never venture
out of it, you will never know that there is such a thing as an ocean, a sea.”
As for me, I will be stepping back and assessing what my next change entails.
After all, as Helen Keller said, “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.
To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of
fate is strength undefeatable.”
During my tenure with the magazine and the blog my most viewed
blog post appeared on SWM’s, Suite T November 14, 2012, titled “Forward Movement and Stephen King” garnered
over 560,000 views. Its the number one blog post viewed to date. It’s about
forward movement after rejection, something Stephen King lived through. You can
read this post in its entirety at this link.
Can you imagine a world without the books of Stephen King? What if he had let the change of rejection define him? He persisted and his books are more popular than ever.
As President, John
F. Kennedy said, “Change is
the law of life. And those who look only to the past and present are certain to
miss the future.”
I’m excited about the future in this new decade. The
possibilities are endless, and I am looking forward to seeing where this change
takes me. I will be following all of you in this new decade. I hope you'll join
me during this time of change on my new journey by following along on my
Instagram (@acmastron) I’m establishing as a book driven sharing and review
platform, a Bookstagram, a term
for an Instagram account centered around books. A ginormous online book club
24/7. I plan to create a fun venue so authors and readers alike can
find each other. Who knows I may even add a book blog. You can always reach me
at acmastron@gmail.com
“Books make life’s constantly changing journey enjoyable.”~AC
Mastron
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