Silvio was ecstatic when Brad and I returned to Casa Amor.

This year he had done something special that I immediately noticed. We exchanged a few words; and then as usual, he was off to the airport and I into the house to unpack. But back to my point...this year, there were flowers in every room. Silvio had filled the house with fresh flowers which would become not only a hobby for the summer, but something beautiful to appreciate as we enjoyed the house.

While I would be touring some that summer, it was going to be at a much slower pace. I intended to have Liam and Isabella take the reigns a bit and focus on marketing and selling the book from online channels. Each of them had done their respective parts, and I was rewarding them fro time to time as the royalty checks came in.

It was my goal to finish my new novel by Thanksgiving and have it on the shelves for the Christmas and New Year's holiday season. I figured that most of the writing could be done over the summer and I could dedicate what time I needed to in the fall to bring it to completion.

While I was excited to be spending the first summer at Casa Amor alone with Brad, I was also growing concerned for my Father and his health. Little by little as we talked, I could see his mind failing a bit. Additionally, he had become quite the complainer with respect to his physical health as well. He had been banged up quite a bit between high school and college sports, and the military. Despite all this, he was a "tough old bird", and I knew he would not give up without a fight.

Ellen called a few weeks after we settled into Casa Amor. She had a new angle for us to explore.

Spending time in Anguilla made me long for Casa Amor.

I phoned Silvio and booked another summer. By this time, we had become friends. He was happy to hear my voice on the other end of the line and delighted that I wanted to return to Casa Amor. Even he had adopted the nickname for his residence.

It was already spring and summer would soon be here. I had booked for a little longer this year, as Silvio wanted to spend a little more time in Tuscany, which gave me the option to stay longer in California. It really worked out.

I envisioned the second book pushing me over the edge and into the mainstream. Could it possibly be enough that I could purchase Casa Amor? Would Silvio sell? Cash would always do the talking and if I made good money with the second book, I just might have the proverbial "leg to stand on" with Silvio.

The next six weeks on the road flew by. I had just finished my thirty-fifth book signing when June 1 came around. On June 2, I boarded a plane along with Brad for the summer; and one month longer, to Casa Amor. I decided I would sleep the entire flight. While it would have been a good time to write, I had found at this point that I was most productive early in the morning. Brad and I shared this trait, and so we would write each morning along with our coffee in our respective work spaces and then meet each other on the covered patio for a lite breakfast.

When the plane landed, a smile came immediately to my face. Brad and I would pick up our bags, grab a taxi to Casa Amor and "check in" for the summer...plus one month

It was hard not to notice our destination when we arrived at the gate. We were going to Anguilla!

By now I was almost in tears. Brad had scheduled a week in Anguilla. The weather would be similar to that in San Diego and I missed Casa Amor deeply. Somehow he just knew this destination would be appealing to me.

The flight was short relatively, as I slept most of the way. Part of me wanted to keep my eyes open so as not to miss anything, but the other half knew that I needed the rest.

We arrived down on the tarmac in Anguilla about 6:00 PM. A Jeep with an open top and an escort was there to pick us and our luggage up to ferry us to the hotel. I could simply not believe my eyes when we arrived. Not only had Brad booked the most luxurious hotel on the island, but he also booked us a roof-top villa. The Viceroy Anguilla would be our home for the next seven nights

I could nary believe it! I never wanted to leave!

There were plenty of things to do at the hotel. Restaurants, bars, a spa; you name it, it was available to us at either our fingertips or a concierge phone call away. This was living!

Each morning I got up early and spent time walking the beach and then writing. I was now working on my second novel with the Amish theme. It was challenging; even more so than my first, but day-by-day, I whittled away at the manuscript; page-by-page, chapter-by-chapter.

Would I someday have two credits to my name?

By the time we finished our tour northward thru North Dakota, it was time for a break. To date, we had sold over 371,000 copies, and I was more than profitable at this point.

Brad and I decided we would go south for a few weeks and rest. He had just the place in mind, and made the reservations. It would be a surprise for me, and the only thing I had to worry about was getting my things together.

Being on tour was amazingly fun and exhilarating, but I was ready for a break. We would drive from North Dakota to our destination. I was still calling my Dad each day, and he was still keeping me abreast of the numbers; especially those that he could look up online. He was excited for me and how the book uplifted me both personally and professionally. Brad was also proud. He had been in my shoes before, but there is nothing like the first time.

As we drove, I fell into almost a meditative state. Looking out the window in a clam car with Brad at the helm was soothing. We would stop occasionally, but mostly I just peered out the window in deep thought.

I missed Brady! I missed Mom! And I missed how proud each of them would have been for me and of me. Dad was a stronghold thru this process and Brad a partner. We had literally (no pun intended) become "two peas in a pod." As we went further and further south, I wondered where we might be going. As we entered Miami, I saw Brad get off the exit to go toward Miami International Airport.

Not only were we going south, we were going south of the border. I began to get extremely excited. Where on earth could we be going?

From Texas; and more specifically Austin, we headed north on the book tour.

After San Antonio and Dallas, it was Colorado Springs, Denver and Aspen in Colorado. Following behind was Salt Lake City and Ogden, Utah. Then Cheyenne, Wyoming. We headed east to Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska, then north again to Sioux Falls and Rapid City, South Dakota; east to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and then north again to Bismark and Fargo, North Dakota. Thankfully it was spring, so we were not completely freezing off our "tushes" at any given moment.

By the time we reached Fargo, we were just over 212,000 copies. I just knew we were going to hit our next milestone and surpass it. Could I do 500,000 or even 1 million? Only time would tell. At this point, online sales to personal sales at my book signings were outpacing me by a margin of 12-1. That was certainly not a problem, as the word was getting out and the efforts of my children were not going unnoticed. In fact, I kind of figured that when we reached 250,000 copies in sales, that the question concerning a raise might come up. Not surprising, as their work was strictly gratis to this point.

Brad and I attempted to find both the "holes-in-the-wall" and also the finer restaurants in our travels. Since this was not his first cross country tour, he was able to show me some things that I might have never found on my own. Some I had heard of, and others were completely new to me. My daughter was my history and finance buff, and Liam was no slouch himself.

Without fail, we always found good company everywhere we would go. The people were nice in almost every place we visited. Some blessing could be found in each and every day, it was not as if we had to look for it. It seemed to find us.

Austin with Brad was a welcome occassion.

We needed to slow down and enjoy the front-running success that we had already had with the book. We had sold over 100,000 copies and were seeing the numbers increase exponentially on a daily basis. It seemed that people actually liked my book. I was enamored by the response and the future possibilities and began running new book possibilities by Brad as we ate dinner.

We ate at Fleming's in downtown Austin.

Brad and I both ordered the Bone-In Ribeye. It was a fabulous dinner and we paired it with a Caymus 40th anniversary Cabernet Sauvignon. The steak, the wine, the sides and the conversation was exhilarating. I couldn't thank Brad enough for the help that he had supplied. He had introduced me to an agent that had actually taken my book, and was helpful in the process toward setting up a book tour. While my agent had given me free reign to setup book signings as I wished, we had certainly made progress having a dedicated contract with Barnes & Noble.

Barnes & Noble gave us cart-Blanche.They had really taken the time to roll out the red carpet for us. I was scheduled for signings for the next forty days, so my time in Austin had to be relaxing. I would call Dad each nite on the road and tell him about our day. He was keeping track of my numbers and perhaps knew them better than I did from a sales perspective. He knew his numbers, and so did the rest of his community.

Brad and I talked about our next book projects. He was slated to do something different and was going to pen a sappy Christmas story. I, on the other hand, had only a few good ideas, but could not decide. It was either going to be a fiction novel about a specific place in my past or a story about life in an Amish community. I needed an outlet, and starting a new book while on the road would not only be rewarding, but also relaxing.

As I laid my head on the pillow that night, I began thinking about how a novel from the Amish country might go. The ideas kept flowing, so I started the book that nite in Austin. Would I strike gold again? I wondered...

Los Angeles and Napa were also a hit.

I sold approximately 5,000 books thru all channels in these two events and online. My first goal was to reach 25,000 copies; which would more than pay for my advance and make me profitable. I could see the book starting to explode and wondered how big it could really become.

My father, Liam and Isabella were also extremely excited. They had not seen me this happy in years. It was not that I had not recovered from my loss of Brady, but they could now see a new passion in my eyes with the book.

Once leaving California, we were off to Nevada, then Arizona and New Mexico. We would do shows in Las Vegas, Reno, Flagstaff, Phoenix, Albuquerque and Sante Fe; just to name a few. In no time, we were selling 5,000 copies a week online and were frequently selling up to 1,000 at book signings. Our tour was becoming wildly successful.

Liam and Isabella decided to get into the action. Liam built a website for me and Isabella decided to do some sales and marketing; to include social media. While we did not see a huge impact immediately, the growth was exponential.

By the time we finished Albuquerque, I reached 25,000 copies sold. I would now begin to see the fruits of my labour as my advance was paid back in full.

While touring throughout Texas, Brad and I decided to take a few days for ourselves. We would spend two days in Austin recharging our batteries, so to speak. The children continued working hard, as they had set a new goal of 250,000 copies. At that point, I would be able to call the book a success in my mind. Again, I wondered how far I could go; and the numbers were beginning to speak for themselves.

Monday we would start beating the pavement, but it was first time to build a strategy.

Brad had many contacts at the larger bookstores and decided we should put together a cross-country tour. He contacted Simone at Barnes & Noble and she was happy to accept my offer to do a book tour having heard that I was picked up by Simon & Schuster.

We would begin in two weeks.

Since we were on the west coast, it was decided that we would travel the country from west to east. Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Napa would be the first three stops.

Two Monday's later came quickly as Simone suggested that we strike while the iron was hot. Simon and Schuster promised the book in two weeks, and actually delivered. I was able to get an advance of 2,500 copies. In a whirlwind fashion, I sold one hundred books at my first event in San Francisco and an additional 3,500 thru online channels in the first week. Not only was a published author, I was making money with the book.

Brady would have been proud of me. My greatest accomplishment was undoubtedly raising my children, but the book project had become a close 2nd.

I was happy with my latest success, Brad was happy to be along for the ride, and the whole process was motivating me to write a second book on the road. It was one of the most rewarding points of time in my life.

Two weeks went by and we were continuing to send out pieces each day.

Then Ellen called.

She called and Brad answered. He was calm, and handed me the phone. A voice on the other end asked calmly, "Is this Stephanie?" I confirmed that is was and the lady on the other end identified herself as Ellen from Simon & Schuster.

She asked, "Are you sitting down?" I sat for a moment and then she said, "Your book has been picked up by our firm and we are granting you a $25,000 advance!" Not knowing what to say next, I jumped nearly out of my shoes and screamed at the top of my lungs, "I am going to be published!"

Brad immediately ran to the fridge and got another bottle of champagne. And this time, he popped the good stuff. Mumm Napa.

I continued to be running around like a blubbering idiot and ran upstairs with my glass of champagne that Brad had poured me to change. We were going out on my dime, and it was not going to be to McDonald's or Burger King.

Osteria Panevino would be the reason for the season; and I meant season, as I knew this contract was just the beginning of a long run of things to do. Book signings, road tours, and many nites of celebration.

I just could NOT wait for the fun to begin. I had done it!