For ten years of my life, I sold life insurance. &nbsp;There were usually two sales campaigns each year, one in the fall and one in the spring. &nbsp;At the end of each one, there would be a celebration of some kind, usually a banquet somewhere.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When I started writing, I carried on that tradition. &nbsp;The kids knew that when I finally got on what I called &quot;the banana peel&quot; of the book, the ending couldn&#039;t be far behind. &nbsp;They were always anxious for me to get to the end, because we&#039;d go out to dinner to celebrate. &nbsp;How do you spell Mama&#039;s Mexican Kitchen?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As a Brownie, when my daughter started selling Girl Scout Cookies, she was serious about it. &nbsp;For three years, she paid her own way to camp by selling 1000 boxes of cookies a year! &nbsp;We learned that we had to have the right percentages of cookies--Thin Mints being the most popular--in order to have the complete selection of cookies available on the last day. &nbsp;We also learned that she had to get out early, so that by the time all the other Girl Scouts were hitting the streets on the last few days of the sale, she&#039;d be done. &nbsp;And when she was done, off to dinner we would go.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The third year, one of her friends called to see if she could spend the night on the night we were planning our celebratory dinner. &nbsp;The friend was in my daughter&#039;s troop and, as their leader, I knew how many boxes each girl had signed up to sell which, in this case, was a dozen boxes. &nbsp;I told my daughter to ask the friend if she had sold her cookies. &nbsp;The answer was no. &nbsp;&quot;Ask her why not?&quot; I said. &nbsp;The answer: &nbsp;&quot;Because people told me no.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I told my daughter to tell the friend that she couldn&#039;t spend the night that night. &nbsp;When the phone call ended, I explained to my daughter that since she had singlehandedly sold more cookies than the whole rest of the troop, more people had told her no than had said no to the whole rest of the troop and that it wouldn&#039;t have been fair for someone who hadn&#039;t sold 12 boxes to take part in the celebration for someone who had sold 1000. &nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I like to think that was a good life lesson for everyone concerned, sort of like my grandson taking an unauthorized trip down a down escalator and realizing he couldn&#039;t come back up.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Today we continue those traditions. &nbsp;It turns out that my life as a writer still mimics how life was in the old life insurance days. &nbsp;There are still two sales campaigns--one in the winter and one in the summer. &nbsp;And tonight is the banquet.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Before Betrayal of Trust came out, we sent out e-mail notices to the 9000+ !!!! people in our database. &nbsp;(In the beginning, that was the &quot;Doghouse List.&quot; &nbsp;Those were the people in my rolodex that my daughter called ON THE PHONE before a grand opening party at the Doghouse. &nbsp;She loved the sound of answering machines because getting one of those meant she didn&#039;t have to talk so long!) &nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The folks who received those Betrayal of Trust e-mails along with my Facebook and Twitter followers dutifully went out&nbsp;and bought the book--right away!!! &nbsp;(Thank you for that!) &nbsp;That&#039;s how we got on the New York Times List!! &nbsp;And I know&nbsp;there are people who learned about the books that way because they sent me e-mails, comments and tweets&nbsp;letting me&nbsp;know. &nbsp;That&#039;s something I appreciate, by the way. &nbsp;I LIKE knowing what people think of my books.&nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So tonight is our New York Times party. &nbsp;Bill and I along with our collection of kids and grandkids will be going to John Howie Steakhouse in Bellevue to celebrate. &nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It&#039;s a lot like going to Mama&#039;s Mexican Kitchen in the Regrade only I&#039;m pretty sure the food will be better.&lt;br /&gt;