My family spent many years coming to Bar Harbor either camping or on day trips when I was a child. I remember during the seemingly endless trip down that I fantasized about living there someday, a house overlooking the open ocean, my children growing up with sea salt in their hair and pink cheeks, swinging on a tire swing and throwing rocks into the water.
I remember coming here as a teenager with a friend on small road trips. We'd stop in and have an iced coffee even though we hadn't fully learned to appreciate or love coffee yet- just to feel more adult-like. We walked the shore path and talked about our futures like they were not-so-distant dreams we were on the verge of accomplishing. Mine always, endlessly, included living there, and writing. Always writing. Ever since I'd realized I loved it so much, and teachers and my parents and friends complimented my efforts.
My dream was to own a bookstore on the ocean. The closest I ever came to realizing that dream was visiting Sherman's overlooking the water in Bar Harbor. I envisioned a coffee shop attached to my bookstore, my own novels adorning the shelves among countless others, my effort and passion freely expressed for all. Of course, at this point, I finally did love the coffee.
I did live in Bar Harbor, or rather the outskirts of it, for several years. My children did not have a tire swing, but we rented a house tucked behind a business that was oceanfront property and we did visit the water, skip rocks, and get salty hair. For a time, I had part of my dream, and when it became time to move on, I was fairly ready.
However, during this time, I published my novel for the first time under a previous name, and, in a burst of hope and inspiration, I asked my favorite little book store to carry copies of it, prepared for the worst but hoping for the best.
They said yes.
And as I venture forward to new horizons with the same aspirations, more or less, in my mind, I asked again.
They said yes.
Success, for me, is feeling good about what you're doing because it is right for you. This little book store on the coast of Maine where so many of my dreams were built, even ones I can't achieve and still don't loosen my grip on, is success for me. I could sell 1 or 100 copies here, and still be forever honored that they carried a book I wrote.
"You get in life what you have the courage to ask for." - Oprah Winfrey
(I took this little quote out to my car on a sticky note to have my first ever meeting with my agent. I carried that note in my purse for years.)
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