Ever since I was a teenager, I wanted to write a book. But, children, work, and life intervened. So a year ago, with some money in the bank, and my marketing business fizzling (how do you compete with the global workforce when someone in Brazil is willing to charge $200 for the same services I used to charge $5,000 for?), I realized it was “now or never.”

Last Friday, a man dressed in brown walked up to my front door and handed me a package. I walked into my house, unwrapped it, and was momentarily stunned.