two small pebbles in a river of stones

My river of stones book arrived in the post yesterday and I have to admit I am totally blown away by it. I guess it's a measure of my amazement that I have sunk to using such a cliché to describe my feelings, but there you go. It arrived in a plain brown cardboard package with a simple delivery note in a plastic envelope on the front.  I undid the cardboard flaps and opened it up and it was stunning. I have seen photos of the front page but I was still unprepared by the depth of colour, the shine and the mesmerising lines of the pattern.
This is the first time that I have been in print in this way.

As a journalist I have seen my work in black and white for many years, of course, and during a later career in marketing I've seen it in other colours too. But this is different. I took part in this writing project because I thought it would be fun and I enjoyed it immensely. At the end we were asked to submit up to ten of our favourite pieces and I chose eight. Two of them were picked for inclusion in this book. Making me a published writer (by my definition) for the first time.

I can't express how proud I am to be part of this. (Which is a pretty awful admission for a writer!) It actually reduced me to tears. As I read some of the other small stones that share the pages with me I could not believe that I was considered good enough to be among them. Thank you Fiona and Kaspalita. Thank you for the opportunity.