I cannot believe I sent out the inaugural edition of the JQ Rose Courier two years ago this month! I have all 24 editions on Mailerlite to prove it! I looked up the first one, January 2020, pre-Covid. Being a rookie, I did not check to make sure the links actually connected to a site. They did not. I had to send an apology and the correct links in another email. After 20+ editions, you’d think I would have everything perfect. But, I never get too smug about it. Let’s just say I am quicker now and have had less problems than I did on the first attempt at creating the Courier. BTW, the title of the newsletter is a combo of my pen name Rose and also my favorite flower and Courier which is the name of the newspaper my family read when I was a kid. the Lincoln Courier, Lincoln, Illinois. I like the sound of the word and how it is pronounced. According to dictionary.com, one of the meanings for courier is "a messenger, usually traveling in haste, bearing urgent news, important reports or packages, diplomatic messages, etc." While I don't pretend to carry urgent news, nor perhaps important reports, I do deliver news and reports with a touch of humor on topics I hope of interest to readers. In 2020 I knew one of my goals for the year was to create a newsletter. And I did! Very satisfying. I also knew I had a deadline, no longer just a goal, to finish my memoir because the publisher planned to release it in June of 2020. Then Covid-19 interrupted goals, plans, dreams for the whole world. In fact, everyday life was put on hold in a world where folks left groceries in their car and washed them before bringing them into the house! Needless to say, I sent out the Courier every month in 2020, but I could not finish Arranging a Dream: A Memoir. I, like many of you, felt scattered and scared. I could not focus on the manuscript, the story. My publisher, Jude Pittman, at BWL Publishing realized we were all suffering and offered to move the new releases to a later date. I took advantage of that because
**I wanted readers to be engaged in following us on the journey to fulfill our dream of becoming entrepreneurs in the flower business. I wished the reader to be right alongside me as we celebrated triumphs and tackled challenges. **I wanted to encourage readers to Dream Big and to use our path as a guide to build their dreams. Fast forward to January 2021. My memoir was released on January 1, 2021, forty-five years to the day we became owners of Fairview Floral in Fremont, Michigan. Doesn’t that seem to be a coincidence? But for me, it affirmed to me and even felt comforting that this was the right time to publish my "heart-work" It was the best date to find readers who could use this uplifting story. Fast forward to January 2022, today. The book has been out in the world for a full year. I have had amazing reviews and in-person comments about how the story has touched them. I have been delighted many times when people respond with "you're never too old to dream!"  | | The Rose Courier--Winter edition 2022 |
I truly love delivering the Rose Courier to my subscribers every month, but things change. At this time, I plan to suspend writing the newsletter on a monthly basis to give me more time to focus on other projects/goals for 2022. So I will send you the Courier every three months unless there's some really "urgent news" this courier has to share with you. Click here to subscribe to the Rose Courier for all the news, articles, giveaways and fun! It's not too late to have the Courier delivered to your inbox this Thursday evening! Sign up now! HAPPY NEW YEAR 2022!
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