Absenteeism

First and foremost, I would like to apologize for my lack of content lately. Due to unforeseen circumstances, my blog fell to the bottom of my To Do list. For this, I sincerely apologize.

However, I would like to offer you an explanation for my Absenteeism:

First, I’ve been tossed into the line for a promotion at work. This is fantastic news as it would allow me a more flexible schedule and a significant raise. In an effort to obtain that promotion, I’ve been busting my butt to make an impression on the eBay Powers-That-Be. As you can imagine, that takes up a good portion of my free time!

I have also been working on books 2 and 3 in The United Series while I wait for my last beta reader to get her notes back to me for the first book in the series. I’ve got a lot to do before my December 1st release date! (Yes, this is the official announcement of the release date!)

Yesterday, I got a letter in the mail from my school. While this is nothing out of the ordinary, it does give a little bit of insight as to why my blog has been a little stagnant over the last few months. I pulled the envelope out of my mailbox and, assuming that it was a letter letting me know that the financial aid office was missing yet another piece of paperwork that would end up being vital to my continued education, I opened it post-haste. The piece of paper that I removed from that envelope knocked me on my butt and moved me to tears:

“Dear David:

Congratulations! President Cythia Bioteau and Academic & Career Adivising are pleased to announce that your outstanding academic performance in Spring 2013 has earned you a place on the President’s List. The effort you put forth to earn the grades necessary for this recognition is commendable.

This selection is based on the completion of at least 15 graded credits, while earning a grade point average of 3.8 or above. This accomplishment is a source of shared satisfaction – the pleasure we feel in your outstanding scholarship in our college and the pride you must feel in your own success.

We hope the certificate below will have meaning to you and that you will continue your hard work. We are proud of your achievement and wish you continued success.

Sincerely,
Sonia Parker, Director
Academic & Career Advising”

Needless to say, I was floored. The highest my GPA ever reached in Junior High and High School was 1.6 so this is a HUGE accomplishment for me and has sparked my desire to remain on this list and graduate with High Honors. As you can imagine, this requires a lot of time and devotion to attending classes and doing mountains of homework.

Now, a lot of you might be saying, “You wrote a blog to tell us that you’ve been busy?” The answer to that is both yes and no. You all took enough interest in my blog to follow me, so at the very least you deserve an explanation for my lack of faithful posting. More importantly, though, is the example that I hope this provides. I have suddenly become the poster child for the phrase “You can do anything you put your mind to.” and I sincerely hope that SOMEONE walks away thinking, “Hell, if HE can do it, so can I!”

I want to take this time to assure you that my blog will be moved up my priority list and I will make a conscious effort to continue to provide high quality information as my adventures in the industry continue forward. Stay tuned for more inspiration and advice!

As always, happy writing!
D

P.S.
Not a single one of you submitted any pieces to me for my Free Publicity! Every Week Even! post… So I think I am going to change it up a little next week, so make sure you keep your eye out for that update!

 

Everyone Has A Story

Before I get into the real meat of the story here, there’s a little bit of information you need to know about me…

I am currently employed by eBay as a phone monkey. For those of you who have ever had to call eBay, you probably talked to someone in my department. One of the big things that we push as a customer service department is member connections. We’re supposed to take our conversations beyond just empathy for whatever situation happens to come through our phone. The way I interpret what they’re trying to get us to do is, “Make their conversation with you something that the member will never forget.”

Normally, I suck at this. If someone calls in and launches right in with their problem, I assume that they know what’s going on and they want me to fix it, so I get right down to the point and get it taken care of and send them on their merry way. Every now and then though, someone comes on my phone that I just can’t help but chit chat with a little bit and we usually have a few laughs while we get their problem taken care of.

Today, however, I took my little mantra to a whole new level. Only one other time have I ever connected with a member like this and she is now someone I consider a very close acquaintance if not a friend. We even became Facebook friends recently. Today, I took a phone call that I will never forget, and I hope that, we’ll call him Ray for anonymity’s sake, will say the same.

I knew Ray was different as soon as the first sentence came out of his mouth. After going through my “Thank you for calling eBay” spiel and verifying that I was talking to the account owner, I asked him what I could help him with. The words that came out of his mouth made me laugh and set the mood for the rest of the call, “I’m guilty here. I just wanted to put that out there.”

Ray’s problem was relatively simple to resolve and I made sure to address a few underlying problems that I noticed as well. It took about twenty minutes for me to have him all situated and ready to go. Before I got him off the phone, I wanted to make that personal connection with him though so that I didn’t get yelled at by my boss, so I pulled up his Sold Items history. Ray, come to find out, sells pens. All kinds of pens. So I said to Ray, “Before I let you go, I want you to know that I’m an author that doesn’t own a pen that I can call mine, so I’ll be keeping an eye on your items for sure and you can expect to see a transaction or two from me before too long.”

I had unknowingly touched on a very deeply rooted passion.

This simple comment launched us into a conversation that lasted more than an hour and a half. Ray is an avid lover of pens and has a wealth of knowledge that spans more topics than I dare to write about here. We talked politics briefly, pens at length, carpentry, volunteerism, a cruise he had taken to Belize with his wife (which lead to more talk of carpentry and woodwork), holocaust victims (check out the Holocaust Museum of Houston and the boat that he is helping restore), cancer, and so much more.

At one point in time he told me that he should let me go because I surely had other things to do and, before I could stop myself, I said, “If you can talk to me for the next 40 minutes, I’m off work and I’ll be a happy camper!”. Well, Ray didn’t disappoint!

It was the most engaging, thought provoking conversation I’ve had with an eBay member in the year I’ve worked there. If I could pick my favorite thing that I learned from this kind old Texan, it’s that you can indeed make a completely random stranger’s day take a 180 degree turn for the better.

Ray’s stories from his life were so interesting and real that it rekindled my desire to write a sort of anthology of mini-biographies. My grandmother was the first person to plant this idea in my head, but over the years my desire to tackle this project had dwindled. Now, thanks to Ray, the flame has been rekindled and my fingers are itching to get started.

But first, I wanted to share this story with you in hopes that you might have a little bit of your faith in humanity restored. There are still good people out there who are more than happy to sit down with a random stranger and share their wealth of knowledge simply for the sake of having the opportunity to do so. Ray is a shining example of how I wish the whole world could be.

Thank you, “Ray”!

As always, happy writing!
D