Happy Birthday

I have this publisher that I'll be loyal to forever. This month is their fifth anniversary in business, and I couldn't be more proud. They started in 2007 as three women at a writer's conference, frustrated by the way authors were treated in the industry. Especially at the time, when ebooks were relatively new to the public, authors were in a rush to produce while companies pretty much treated them like machines.

In their effort to give the author a voice in every aspect of the creative process, to stand up for the little author, and to maintain its boutique size to keep quality intact, Leigh, Jess, and Tiff created Resplendence Publishing.

It was after a purchased series of mine (under yet another pen name) fell through late 2007, that I submitted my work to Resplendence on a suggestion by Mona Risk. They picked me up with a three book series deal and I was off and running. They've stood by me every step of the way, through evolution of identity, to personal needs.

When I went into the hospital a year ago, they were the voices cautioning me to rest, sending me a personal gift and checking in on me. Why? Because although I was their author, they'd become friends of mine. Even now, five years after their birth, they want to know how their authors are. They want to care about them. When I went through divorce and drove across the nation, it was Tiff's house I stayed at overnight with my two little girls and my cat. When I wasn't sure I could make it writing full-time, they opened opportunities up for me and supported my energies in seeking additional publishers to put out my work and expand my readership.

They care and in an industry that sometimes forgets that writers are a little bit neurotic in their lonely pursuit of the perfect manuscript, I call them a blessing.

Happy birthday, Resplendence. Jess, Tiff, and Leigh, you persevered when others thought you'd fail. You've weathered the storm of misplaced speculation, and you've handled it all with grace. You've truly been a lifesaver to me.

Love,
Mia