I have never been in Queensland, Australia, have you? Well, guess what happened! I just received word, from the Department of Education in Queensland, that  posting of the first two pages from the prologue of my book, “The Immigrants’ Daughter,” on their website has been finalized. These pages are password protected and accessible to their teachers and students.  In my wildest dreams I could not have imagined that my book would cross borders to serve another English-speaking country’s educational system!

 Have I missed my profession? My aspirations to become a teacher were stifled early. Writing was an alternative that remained a sideline, like an extra marital affair, until retirement.  Earning a living was a priority. As you well know, authors need a rich husband/wife or a sponsor in order to survive the first decade or two of their profession.  Even then, few make it to the bestseller list. Without much publicity they don’t stand a chance. Books sell more copies based on advertising than on intrinsic value. It is a sad reality that most everything else is that way too. We spend more on outward appearances like packaging, than inner values like good mores.

 So how did my book travel to Australia, when I didn’t? By pure chance! Certain excerpts of my book are displayed on different websites, by invitation.  Two institutions involved with education requested permission for reprints, each one choosing a different excerpt.  The Queensland  Department of Education is one of them. The second one is on queue for publication.

 Of course permissions to use excerpts do not yield cash returns, unless the end user is prompted to buy the book, but the satisfaction derived from knowing that chapters in my book will serve a positive purpose in education is immense. Perhaps I missed my calling as a teacher or a psychologist and providence is fulfilling my unmet wishes.  Perhaps . . . No, I’m not going into a spin analyzing the ‘how’ s and ‘why‘ s  of this karma.  At this mature stage in my life every such occurrence is a fulfillment and a blessing.