The Cover of Skin Deep Magazine!

It is so awesome to be a published author! You can read the digital edition if you’re interested: just click on the cover. This is my third time out, and my story is the lead article. 🙂 Since I no longer have employees (or children at home!), I’ve needed a teaching outlet, and writing fills the bill perfectly.

Since the article was published, I’ve gotten some great feedback, along with a request to teach at the Santa Barbara Aesthetics Academy.

Of course, I need to give credit where credit is due. My mom is a writer. She has yet to be published but has written several novels. She is brilliant. Trained as a lawyer and schooled in psychology as well, she was definitely my first mentor.

Next comes Jenn Prentice, whom you know.  She worked with me when I first began blogging, and she writes the hilarious and awesome blog, The Style Geek. She has guest-blogged for Star Brows and has written one of my most popular posts: Youngblood Mineral Mascara – The difference is eye-catching. This lady has inspired and influenced me more than she knows.

Then there’s my bestie, Jeanne Dininni. She is a copywriter, writes the blog Writer’s Notes,  and edits everything I write (so, if there are mistakes…just sayin’). 😉 I hate(d) grammar and punctuation. She tries to slip in teaching moments, which I rebel against regularly. After all, why should I learn when I have her – ha!

No thank-you list of mine would be complete without a shout-out to the Lord! He inspires, sustains, and teaches me new things daily: most importantly the lesson of Eucharisteo. And my daughter Valery’s  father-in-law, Larry Hoekman, who writes GodToMe, my daily devotional, inspires me as well.

All this to say, “Don’t let your gifts lie dormant. Take a chance, step out of your comfort zone, and live each day to the fullest, breath to breath.”  Cheers! Here’s to success for all of us in 2012.

See you at the spa!