Sometimes Things Pan Out

In this industry where things seldom pan out, I am very blessed to announce that the Point Of Grace cookbook (Cooking With Grace) has gone to press and their record (with my song on it) is "in the can!" The record and cookbook are due out on March 2nd!

One of the most exciting things that can happen to a songwriter is to be invited to the studio to hear your song being recorded. Well, that happened to me in October, just two days after my birthday. I wrote "The Greatest Show On Earth" with the girls in Point Of Grace and Cindy Morgan. Another thrill that day was meeting their producer, Nathan Chapman. Yes, THAT Nathan Chapman, of Taylor Swift fame! The song sounds amazing and I am proud to be on the record.

The cookbook has been a labor of love. Point Of Grace's record label Word/Warner decided they wanted to publish it and furthermore, wanted it to be released in conjunction with the new record. We found this out in late November. Suddenly we were on a December 23rd deadline. You have never seen such scrambling and hard work. There were many nights that I could send out an email at midnight and receive 3 or 4 responses immediately. Point Of Grace was a dream to work with, as was Chuck Hargett, our designer, and Jill Tomalty and Tim Marshall from Word Records. If you are still waiting on a Christmas gift from me, just rest assured that I have a cookbook for you. I barely even had time to be Santa's little elf this year!

Now, it wouldn't be a Nashvegas Native blog without a little melancholy. Don't get me wrong. I am SO happy and thankful for these promising developments. I just have to admit that I am feeling a little lost now that this HUGE project is over. The photo shoot for the cookbook cover was last week and the book went to the manufacturer two days later. The next two days were "snow days" and then it was the weekend. And then reality set in this week. It is January and I don't have any resolutions or projects or writing appointments. Everybody is inspired and motivated and I just feel tired. I feel the need to refuel and relax. I'm trying to convince myself that it's okay to take some time for myself. After all, while everybody else was going to Holiday parties and Christmas shopping, I was frantically wrapping up the cookbook all during December. Or maybe I'm better off when I have a project. Maybe it's a little bit of both. Maybe I need to relax while figuring out my next project!

Actually, I do have one resolution so far. I want to blog more regularly this year! Please give me a really hard time if you haven't heard from me for a couple weeks!